


to tempt fate

by omniXenderman



Category: Shiki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Action, Angst and Humor, Apocalypse Prevented, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, New World, Romance, Sarcasm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-04-16 19:18:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 79,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4637127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omniXenderman/pseuds/omniXenderman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"i thought i would be able to change everything...now i just wish i could change anything" someone who is sick of the events that transpire in shiki, someone who has been forced to watch them over and over....now the young man has the opportunity to right the wrongs everyone commits....but will he be able to rise to the challenge? or is fate set in stone...story illustrations by rachael vargas</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“YOU MIGHT BELONG HERE, BUT I DON’T! I DESERVE BETTER THAN THI-GAH” with that he closed the laptop…. A brief sigh penetrated the room. And the lights grew dim.  
“why do I keep torturing myself with this…ever since I started watching this show… I feel for these characters like they were real to me….especially her…I’ve watched that scene so many times I can’t count it…I wish I could help her….i wish I could do SOMETHING, anything! So many nights….so many nights I’’ve spent pleading with fate, devising some scenario in my head, I could jump in and stop that from happening…..maybe I would get cool powers and fight off those people…wishful thinking….i can only sit here and wallow in my misery…why does this bother me so much….it’s just a damned story, but its tearing me to pieces…maybe I can try to sleep it off again…”  
He lay there. Unable to calm his racing mind, he thought and thought, though each passing second made him feel even worse than the last. He usually spent a lot of time contemplating that scene. Especially lately. He knew it was just a story. He knew nothing in it was real…yet he still felt hollow inside. He so desperately pleaded to be able to change something…to change that horrible yet beautiful world for the better. But he knew this to be impossible. That sort of thing only ever happened in stories.  
Even if he had to leave the rest of that place as it was, to change only one thing….he wanted to save that girl from her horrible fate. That was what he so desperately wished. For some reason she piqued his interest, her dreams, her style…even her appearance all appealed to him. And he could also understand the situation she was in…she wasn’t even the main character of that story, in fact, she wasn’t in it much at all. Such a wish might seem alien to people…..especially since the character was not one of the main leads…that would make more sense….but lately nothing made sense to him.  
“plink plink” “huh?” he picked up his phone... after keying in the password, the screen grew incredibly bright, that was how he liked it. He made sure every electronic he owned was as bright as he could make it. Considering how dark his room was kept, even the light from the aquarium failed to brighten it up. Its filter hummed, and the fish inside cast shadows on the wall. The phone screen itself was small, so it didn’t add much ambient light on its own. But he could see it clearly. He scrolled down the screen.  
“Another email?...oh…just another comment response….boring” he read over the message, and started to type in a retort.  
I guess…..” he stared out of his bedroom window…. The black abyss of a sky seemed to stare back at him. The moon glowed eerily. It cut through the night harshly, that one beacon in a black abyss. He lived in a populated area, so the light pollution outshined the stars, making the sky look pitch black…and giving the moon its creepy glow. Something about this night was just a bit off however, the moon shined much more brightly, and the sky looked more saturated.  
“god….i’m tired. I need to eat more…” he slowly peeled his eyes away from the view and staggered out of the bed he was laying in. holding on to any leverage or object he could he made his way around the room, turning off lights, and adjusting the fan. It was the dead of summer. And in his climate, summers were brutal. It didn’t seem to bother him much, he only had the fan to get rid of the humidity. Heat, so long as it was dry, was a blessing to him, and he soaked it up like a lizard. By the time he had finished his routine, his fatigue had nearly consumed him. Unable to stand he crashed on his bed headfirst. he fell asleep in that position, his legs were still dangling over the ledge….in those last few minutes of lucidity he whispered to himself.  
“I want to save that world…” with that his eyes shut, and the room enveloped in black.  
“….would you be able to change it?...” someone else’s voice echoed in the darkness, a deep one.  
“…what?....change what?” he replied, groggily.  
“would you be able to change the world you so desperately want to help?” the mysterious voice retorted.  
“…that world?....it’s not like I’d ever get a chance to…..it’s just a story….”  
“Suppose you were given a chance? Would you take it?”  
“in a heartbeat…..i’d live there if I could….but I can’t keep thinking those thoughts…if I had a chance..i would sure take it….but it won’t happen”  
“won’t it?” the voice echoed  
he tried to open his eyes, but could not yet make anything out. All he saw was a dark blue sky, and something shining in the distance. There were several points of light in it as well. Suddenly he began to notice a funny sensation. There was a tickle in the lower portion of his stomach, as if he were on the down slope of a rollercoaster. He didn’t know what happened to him but in an instant his awareness returned. Just as he realized what was happening, when the night sky came into focus, he blacked out again.  
“ugh…can’t breath. *huff*” he gasped and choked for air as he woke once more, but it felt as if his chest had been shot with a cannon ball. He tried to open his eyes, but the entire room…what was left of it….was spinning. Every object left an afterimage, and he was seeing double. His senses slowly returned to him a second time, though he did not welcome it. As his head became clearer, and as he snapped back into focus, he noticed an unbearable pain in his back.  
“my god! What on earth were you doing.” A man with white hair and glasses came running to his position.  
“wha---why does everything hurt so much…damn…it feels like I got fucked by a car….ughh” he lay in a pile of rubble and wood, the room he had fallen into was utterly destroyed. The only things that remained intact were the stained glass windows, and the walls then clung to. The pews and seats, along with every other loose object in it had been flung to the far corners of the room. There was also a large hole in the ceiling….several, one for each floor he crashed through. He panned around the room slowly, barely able to hold back tears from the incredible pain, and he noticed the man sitting next to him….and then he noticed something more…..the man looked familiar.  
“Hello? What were you doing?! Let me help you! my name is Seshin.” Seshin rushed over to him, he gave him a look over and began to ask questions.  
“How far did you fall?!”  
“I fell? So that was what was happening to me…..i don’t know, I just woke up like this” he could barely speak, the wind was still knocked out of him, so he could merely wheeze every word. It almost burned when he tried to breath.  
“Are you in much pain?” Seshin looked incredibly worried, he started to move some of the debris away from him.  
“Are you joking? Just take one look at me.” he said with fiery retort.  
“Well, I guess it’s not enough to affect your attitude” Seshin responded with equal indignance.  
“Look dude, I’m kind of dying over here, sorry if I forgot to be polite” he meant that genuinely, though the words seemed to lie.  
“You really are a smart aleck…” Seshin looked at him with a big scowl.  
“That was actually a real apology…at least it was supposed to be….i seem to have a bad habit of saying the wrong things….sorry…for real” he looked to Seshin, something about him seemed eerily familiar, due to the immense pain however…a clear thought was hard to come by, so he couldn’t quite reason it out yet.  
“ah, I see…that certainly makes more sense now.” Seshin smiled and laughed quietly as he continued moving away the rubble, he stopped for a second to wipe the dirt from the teen’s forehead.  
“what did you say your name was again…I can’t quite put my finger on it…you seem really familiar” he began to regain his breath, though the pain from what seemed to be the huge fall would not cease. He regularly had to hold back tears, it was one of the most intense feelings he had ever had.  
“my name is Seshin…yours?” Seshin continued to check the teen’s body for cuts and bruises,  
“It…it’s omni ….what am I doing here by the way?’  
“I was about to ask you the same question…..also that’s an unusual name….is it foreign?” Seshin grew curious at this point, he wanted to find out everything he could about the mysterious young man that fell into his way.  
“Depends on where you’re from….speaking of which…where am i?” he rubbed his head.  
“You don’t know? Did you hit your head on the fall?” Seshin’s eyes grew wide with wonder.  
“No…I don’t have amnesia, I promise you my memories are fully and completely whole….agh!” he tried moving, but an immeasurable pain shot through his entire body, a few tears streamed down his cheeks.  
“I never asked if you had amnesia…”  
“You implied it…ugh bleeegh” he tried moving again, this time the pain was so severe he threw up all over the floor.  
“For god’s sake! Stop moving, you’re going to hurt yourself even more than you already have. Just tell me what you were doing before you crashed in here.” Seshin was surprised at the young man’s resolve to keep going, even if it wasn’t for his own benefit.  
“i…I was going to sleep in my bed….the next thing I know, I’m falling out of the sky!, then I woke up again, only this time under a pile of rubble and in incredible pain...”  
“Do you really expect me to believe such a story…you were probably just trying to climb to the top of the temple steeple, I bet you slipped and fell, you should admit your mistake. I know life in sotoba is boring, but that’s no reason to do dangerous things…”  
“Do you really think a fall from that height would create this much force? Besides, I shouldn’t even be alive right now. Just look at the crater I ……” he stopped mid-sentence, suddenly all of the tumblers fell into place, the last horse finally crossed the finish line…. His eyes grew wide with shock…for a brief moment he couldn’t even summon the words he wanted to say…..finally he grew strong enough to speak again…. He turned his head slowly towards Seshin, mouth agape.  
“You said your name was Seshin……and….the place we are in…..is….called…Sotoba…”  
“well where else would we be, that’s kind of a funny statement…are you sure you didn’t hit your head on the fall down?” Seshin tried to help up the young man, but he only had a blank expression on his face, even the immense pain he was feeling had all but left his sense, he only felt numb. The young man looked around again. This time he was able to make sense of his surroundings.  
“i…sotoba……I’m in sotoba…..sotoba…..sotoba…so….to….ba…..heh….heheheh….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! *bleeegh*” he started to laugh hysterically, only occasionally stopping to throw up due to the still very real and incredible pain he was in. after a few minutes of his hysteria his body gave out, blackness once again enveloped his senses, but before he finally gave in once more to his injuries he managed to mutter something to Seshin.  
“….help me….save….this world” after that he grew silent, only muffled breathing could be heard from him, he lay motionless in the same position he fell in. Seshin was still utterly flabbergasted, he didn’t know what to do with this person…he could try calling the police, but he thought that wouldn’t do any good, after all the teen certainly didn’t seem to mean any harm, and who knows how injured he was. Seshin finally decided it best to just take him to the clinic. Dr. Ozaki would probably be better equipped to handle this sort of situation. And once he had recovered, Seshin could ask him the rest of what he wanted to know, especially the meaning of that cryptic whisper.

 

“This….this is quite a story Seshin.” Ozaki sat on the back of his swivel chair, reaching in his pocket; he fished out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He slid one out and lit it in one fluid motion. Seshin flinched when puff of smoke went up his nose.  
“You don’t say….this sort of thing only happens in stories right? Even in those stories…not in a place like sotoba….this…who is this kid? The only bit of information I got from him was that his name was omni, and that he started to laugh like an idiot when he realized he was in sotoba….i don’t think I should tell him about that last little bit of informatione he gave me.” Seshin looked over to the youth in the medical bed. He was sleeping peacefully, occasionally a brief snore escaped his lips, and at one point his nose sniffled, but other than that, he simply lay there.  
“well….i got the shrapnel out of his back….but with the sedative I gave him, he’s gonna be out for a while….i’ll let you know when he wakes up….and I didn’t find any I.D. on him either. Just this plastic slab with a glass screen…and this wired thing, since I don’t know who he is, and you insist on not calling the police….i consider him and his possessions your responsibility.” Ozaki took a long hit from his cigarette, he slowly puffed out the smoke.  
“You said you took shrapnel out of his back?! How badly was he injured?!” Seshin walked over and put a hand on his sleeping shoulder.  
“Not badly at all, there were only a few fragments, they weren’t even stuck in very deeply, one piece was touching a nerve though…the pain must have been excruciating even if the injury was minor. He should make a full recovery within a couple of days, so long as he doesn’t pop the stitches. Frankly…it’s a miracle he wasn’t crippled, if that piece would have been a centimeter deeper, it would have sliced through that nerve, he would have lost muscle function in that leg.” Ozaki was serious but Seshin still noticed a slight grin creep across his face.  
“Well…I better go….let me know when he wakes…” Seshin got up and started walking away, but before he got far, Ozaki put a hand on his shoulder.  
“Where do you think you’re going? There’s still the matter of his medical bills.” Seshin’s blood froze, that little thought slipped his mind when he carried him to the clinic. Slowly and meekly he turned his head to face the doctor.  
“I’m only kidding Seshin….lighten up. No one ever gets sick around here, so there isn’t much to do. And this story entertained me thoroughly, consider that payment enough. Just tell me more about it after you two chat, I am interested to see how this little tale ends.” Seshin sighed with relief. He quietly thanked Ozaki and left the room.  
“What am I gonna do with him? Poor guy is hopeless… your IV is low…better change the bag.” Ozaki quietly talked to the mysterious new patient, even knowing he couldn’t hear him, but he liked it that way, it certainly kept him entertained.

The next afternoon

His eyes slowly opened. This time the waking wasn’t quite such an ordeal. In fact he even felt euphoric. That was courtesy of the large supply of pain medication pumping through his veins, though he didn’t notice the IV line at first. He moved his arms and he felt the white cloth blanket along with the pillow he was laying on. He closed his eyes quickly because the room was very bright, a window behind his bed was opened and the sunlight blazed through in full force.  
“huh…pillow…blanket….i guess it was just a dream…damn…and here I thought something different….wait…my blanket is brown….and….my walls… are a different color….where the hell am i?” he could barely speak. Hey lay in the bed motionless for a moment, he hadn’t gotten the feel for his body yet, especially after all of the pain medicine was pumping through him, so he couldn’t move even if he wanted to. But slowly his feeling came back, and he managed to scratch his head.  
“So, glad to see you’re awake.” Ozaki moved his chair and drove it to the patient’s bedside. He stood and walked over to the clipboard sitting at the foot of the bed.  
“Would you believe me if I told you that this is the third time in a row I’ve had to come back to my senses?...that voice sounds familiar too…” he opened his eyes again, he made sure to give them time to adjust to the light, but still found himself squinting. He was lucid enough to try to make jokes at the very least.  
“haha! That sounds like me in my younger days. I used to party a lot if you can believe it. Why don’t you tell me how you’re feeling?” Ozaki lit a cigarette and smiled at the mysterious patient sitting up in the bed.  
“Honestly? I feel pretty high…..it’s fantastic….thats….doctor Ozaki?! So I really am here…” he turned to look at the doctor with skeptical eyes. Suddenly he remembered the whole turn of events….how the doctor caused the massive slaughter. ….he caused her to suffer. He caused that for all of them….he wanted revenge. He looked around the room for something, anything he could get his hands on. That was when he noticed the rack of surgeon’s tools sitting next to the clinic bedpost. Ozaki turned around to read the clipboard.  
“Yeah, morphine will do that to you…chart seems pretty interesting, mind telling me how you came about getting your injuries?” Ozaki’s back was still turned.  
“Oh…you know….bastard! Everyone suffers because of you! You turn a whole village into a rabid hoard of psychopaths, sure the shiki had their faults, but you took it too far, if it’s the last thing I do, I swear I will make you pay! You and Sunako!” He gritted his teeth in rage, he could barely hold back from spitting, the anger boiled over, and in a hot blooded moment…he grabbed the scalpel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seishin takes in the mysterious newcomer and names him sora. "sora" wants to see the other parts of the village

He clutched the scalpel in his hands, his grip tight around its metallic handle. The blade was visibly sharp, certainly it must have been, and Omni had assumed that it was used on him not long ago. Exactly how he came to be in the doctor’s clinic he did not quite remember. All he knew was that the powers that be dropped him into this universe….quite literally. He knew enough to know he was in Sotoba, the village from the series he so desperately wanted to help. And that Seshin, one of the main characters…and one of his personal favorites, had found him, lying bloody and broken, in the secluded mountain temple that Seshin enjoyed spending time in.  
He also remembered doctor Ozaki, another main character. The doctor was the one who exposed the shiki, they had been feeding on the village in an attempt to turn its populace and create for themselves a safe haven. Well…that’s what the lead shiki wanted, the reanimated villagers didn’t. They either wanted to leave or were forced to kill. Usually under threat that one of the lead shiki would attack their family, Omni found them an innocent party. However, the lead shiki omni despised almost as much as the doctor, but even they weren’t wholly evil. But the doctor….when he found out, he convinced the village to murder them all without discretion, every last shiki…save two, were murdered…..the girl included. The villagers were in such frenzy they would even kill the other villagers at the slightest possible hint of paranoia or conspiracy. The doctor also tortured and murdered his own wife when she turned, just to exploit her and find their weaknesses. Surely he had his reasons, but the anger and vitriol Omni felt towards the doctor clouded his judgment. He was about to attack the doctor but on the down-stroke…he started to think.  
“should i?....he hasn’t done anything yet….would it be wrong to kill someone for something they have yet to do? Could I even do it?! I’ve never really hurt anyone badly before…” Omni was certainly no killer, sure, a schoolyard brawl here or there, but other than a few bruises and the occasional bloody nose, he had never hurt anyone permanently, he found the thought sickening.  
“how….how will I get out of here if I do kill him? I can barely move……what if I’m stuck in this world…I don’t mind if that is the case ….but I don’t want to spend the time here getting my ass raped in prison…if I am thrown in jail….then I won’t be able to stop the shiki from turning the village ….maybe I should focus on them first…..ozaki won’t go crazy if they don’t turn the villagers….damn…I hope I don’t regret this…” with that last thought Omni set down the scalpel. It made a soft note when its metal handle hit the table. Ozaki heard the sound too, and instantly turned his head to look for the noise….omni’s arm was still extended out to table length and unable to hide the fact he was touching the tools, he decided to put up an innocent façade. Ozaki stared at him sternly. After blowing out a breath of smoke he began to ask him questions.  
“What were you doing with those?” Omni’s blood turned to ice.  
“Just looking at them.” He smiled in an overly excited way.  
“Looking at them….” Ozaki raised an eyebrow.  
“Yep….that’s it” Omni’s grin grew even larger.  
“You look with your hands?” Ozaki was still skeptical.  
“My visions bad….i needed to bring them closer to my eyes.”  
“How bad?”  
“Gee… you ask a lot of questions” Omni stared at him, still trying to put up the friendly façade.  
“Gee…you dodge a lot of questions” Ozaki had both brows raised.  
“Touché” Omni said in a playfully defeated tone.  
“So, what were you really doing with those tools?” Ozaki grew a sly grin.  
“Maybe I should fake an admission of guilt…..honestly?” Omni started to talk in an overly serious and guilty way.  
“Yes...honestly” Ozaki looked even sterner…it almost scared Omni.  
“You used them on me right?....i wanted to see them because I wanted to try and figure out what they do. Its kinda cool thinking about it…if not a bit morbid….god I hope he buys that” Omni laughed nervously. Ozaki however continued to give him the 3rd degree.  
“It is fascinating to think about, isn’t it” Ozaki smiled and laughed.  
“Phew….so….how did I end up here? I don’t remember much after the fall.” Omn1 laid back in the bed, when he leaned up to reach the scalpel it hurt more than he realized.  
“Well…the man who frequented the temple you destroyed…he carried you here. All the way from up in the mountains.” Ozaki looked disdainfully off in the distance. Omni felt a pang of guilt.  
“he….carried me?” Omni looked at Ozaki, pleading in his mind for some modicum of forgiveness. It was a knee jerk reaction, he would sooner spit in Ozaki’s general direction, but he was one who was easily guilted.  
“yeah…quite a distance…..you need to apologize when he comes here, and be more careful…your actions have consequences….” Ozaki said that in a stoic way, Omni could scarcely make out his outline against the light of the bay window. But he clearly saw an arm move up to light a cigarette.  
“not like I crashed on purpose….i was just dropped here..i’m sorry……I was reckless…I won’t let it happen again Dr. Ozaki…” Ozaki looked perplexed.  
“I don’t remember telling you my name….” Ozaki started to give him the 3rd degree again.  
“yeah you did….shit, I know his name from the series…but he never actually told it to me…as far as he knows, we don’t know each other….i gotta be more careful!” omni started to freak again.  
“I suppose….maybe I just forgot…this kid is really strange…I need to make a call, so will you excuse me for a moment?”  
“I guess…” as soon as the doctor left the room Omni started to drift back to sleep. His mind began to wander in that groggy state. That half asleep half awake precipice where dreams and reality intermix.  
“I wonder who he is calling?..maybe cops or something like that….as far as these people know I’m just some vandal who crashed through a roof. Once I’m out of here…what am I gonna do? I have nowhere to go…no job….no money….i don’t even have the clothes I was wearing….even if I can change this world..if I am stuck, then I have no idea what the future will hold…I might live in poverty for the rest of my life here…or I could be killed by one of the shiki…or worse…end up as one no…don’t think like that.” Omni started to feel around his white medical gown. He looked around the room. He could still barely hold out his excitement. He was here. He could do something….this world didn’t have to be a tragedy like it originally was. Omni would have made sure of that. With his last few thoughts, he started to devise a plan. A plan to save the world, a plan to mold it in a better way. He had no idea how people would react to him, or even in the way he expected them too. So he also decided not to tell anyone about his…foreign….origins.  
“This has been one hell of a turn of events….” As he finished that last thought his eyes grew heavier than they ever were before. He began to sleep again. This wasn’t a deep sleep like the one he was medicated into. It was more of a light nap, in this state Omni, along with most others, could hold on to a degree of perception and awareness. After what seemed like a long time Omni was pulled from the land of nod, he seemed to hear shuffling. Then a door creaked open and the doctor came through it, there was another person behind him. Ozaki let him in then left. Omni started to rub the crust from his eyes, he was only just able to make out the shape of the person as he walked behind the amber light.  
“Glad to see you well.” the man sat next to Omni, his face still obscure. Omni’s eyes had yet to adjust itself to the light. But Omni recognized the voice in an instant.  
“Seshin?” Seshin sat back in his seat, clearly surprised by how Omni knew of him.  
“How do you know my name?”  
“Damn I did it again!....maybe I should tell Seshin about my…situation…..of all of the villagers…he should understand…..maybe not the whole story….we need to talk” Omni looked to Seshin’s face, he could see his own reflected in the glasses Seshin was wearing.  
“You’re telling me….for one, why don’t you tell me about why you decided to crash through my temple roof.” Seshin was noticeably angry with the teen.  
“I didn’t decide anything. I told you. I was sleeping at my home, next thing I know, I’m dropping like a stone out of the sky…I just happened to land there of all places.” Seshin had a bored and frustrated look on his face  
“do you really expect me to believe such a story?” Omni slumped down. There wasn’t any way he could prove to Seshin his tale true.  
“he’s got me…if I were in his position I wouldn’t believe me either….maybe if I had proof…..proof?...did I have anything on me when you took me here?...its a long shot…but maybe…” Seshin fumbled around in his robe sleeve for a moment and produced a small object.  
“Other than the shorts you were wearing, just this.” Seshin handed him the object. It was a small thin square with a glass screen. Connected to it was a pair of white earbuds.  
“My phone! I thought this thing was long gone!” Omni instinctively turned on the screen and scrolled around his home page. He checked around for messages. None. No signal either.  
“That thing is a phone? Doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before.” Seshin was intrigued by the strange device the even stranger person was using. The light from the smartphone brightened up Omni’s face. He checked his appearance in the front facing camera. He could see his messy brown hair, and grey eyes. His other facial features were to insignificant to make note of.  
“so this is what I look like here…damn sexy, how you doin’ “ he made a kissing motion after a few moments of looking at himself.  
“It can do that too?!” Omni didn’t notice Seshin looking over his shoulder, peering into the devices screen. He felt his spine tingle when he felt his preath on his shoulder. He turned his head slowly to Seshin, feeling a bit awkward.  
“Haven’t you ever seen a smartphone before?” Omni looked at Seshin as if he had just crawled out from a rock.  
“That thing is called a smartphone….i didn’t think anything like it existed” Seshin was still mystified by its glow.  
“dafuq? What is the date today?” Omni was still in shock that Seshin had never seen something tha he considered so commonplace  
“its july 5th 1995…why?” Seshin meant that to Omni but for some reason could not peel his eyes away from the phone.  
“well….thats right…shiki took place in the 90’s didn’t it…this might take a minute to explain. This device is called a smartphone, to operate it you touch the screen in the center, and push the buttons on the side. These things can o everything. I can listen to music and watch video’s it doubles as a flashlight. I can take pictures and yes I can call people on it….well I can’t do that here…there is no service…but it can do those other things.” Seshin had one hand on his head. He was utterly perplexed for a moment.  
“so it can do all of this?” Omni navigated the screen to a few video files. Though he didn’t have access to streaming apps, he could still utilize the music and video he had already downloaded to the device…including the full series of shiki, among other anime.  
“yeah…glad I decided to download this stuff…never thought I would thank my poor connection…look Seshin….i’m telling you the truth. I really was just dropped here. I wasn’t trying to vandalize your temple, or do any cheap thrill seeking….i’m not from here. I promise you I'm not.” Omni was pleading with Seshin to understand. He considered showing him shiki, but was reluctant to share all of his knowledge…he knew Seshin to be a kind man from what he saw of him…but he had no idea what he would to with that knid of knowledge. Omni thought he could do a better job of saving the world. After all, hindsight was twenty twenty. Omni had looked back, so much time he had spent fantasizing about what he would do if in this very situation. For all he knew Seshin might try something different.  
“i….this…this is too much…that sort of thing only happens in stories right?” Seshin was trying to deliberate what to do with the teen as hard as he could.  
“How do you think I felt when I was dropped in here? It’s not like I could have…foreseen…this little turn of events. …don’t worry about it…once I’m well enough to get out of here I’ll go from there.” Omni was visibly distressed so Seshin spoke up. He asked a few preliminary questions.  
“what will you do? If you are from a different place like you said, surely you had a plan or reason to come here.”  
“you have no idea…I’ll figure something out.” Omni was fidgeting with the phone, organizing some files and watching a video.  
“where will you go? After your purpose here is done…what will happen….why am I even entertaining this idea?” Omni was growing angry. He never liked it when people asked him lots of questions. Especially if they thought it was for his benefit.  
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I’m just going to figure it out as I go. Ok? I’ll find a way to do what I need…and I don’t know where I plan to go…but I’lll figure that out too. I’ll be fine no matter what….no…I’m in deep shit….i don’t know what I’ll do and where I’ll go…once I save the town then what? What if I fail? Then I’m stranded here in a world that dissatisfies me….im right fucked aren’t i….” Omni groaned and rubbed a hand on his face. He was lost in thought until Seshin put his hand on his shoulder.  
“I don’t know if I should…I have no idea what intentions he has….” Seshin remembered those last few words Omni had spoken to him.  
“help me save this world”  
”i…I can’t just leave him like this…and he does still owe me for those damages…if you need it….i have an extra room in the main temple. If you do some of the work there…then I can let you stay……don’t make me regret this kid.” Seshin said that half heartedly but Omni was touched.  
“that…I can’t explain how that makes me feel…..thank you….from the bottom of my heart…..wait….won’t people think its weird that you just give some stranger a room?” Omni was curious how the monk would respond to that. There were still kinks to be solved.  
“i….can make up something….we should go.” And on that note, the two left. Omni thanked the doctor for treating him on his way out. And the two made way to the temple.  
Several days later.  
The monk had come up with a good lie to tell the villagers. Omni was Seshin’s cousin, Sora. His parents had died, and Seshin was his only living relative. Seshin even forged a letter to convince the temple patrons. “Sora” even had to have the doctor forge him a new birth certificate. Seshin said that all of his things were lost in the accident. Omni didn’t like the name though and argued with Seshin about it on a regular basis.  
“why can’t I have a cooler name. like max hammer…oohh or Jackson steele!” Omni protested with childlike disappointment.  
“Sora is a simple name. it means sky, fitting considering the fact that you just dropped out of it.” Seshin responded boredly. Omni had been protesting the name since its inception  
“oh look. Here comes the great and powerful sora, everyone is going to cower in fear. All the men will want to be me and all the women will want me. As if….can’t you think of anything better?” Omni was laying on the sarcasm incredibly thickly. He wanted to make sure Seshin knew...knew well…. Seshin just responded indignantly.   
“Your name has already been established as Sora…. There is no changing it now. I pulled a lot of strings to get you situated. You should be grateful.” Seshin was bored.  
“hey I work all day here for free. That not grateful enough? And when can I start going into the village? Let me run errands there! Its boring having to just sit here when my shift ends. I would work all the time, but I always finish whatever tasks there are. The only things left are to do things in the village, collect tithes, deliver things, buy groceries. Something. I can’t even hang out with people my age because you won’t let me leave….how the hell am I supposed to save the village if Jr. dictator here never lets me in it.”  
“I just want to make sure you are well equipped enough to function there….you can’t read most of the kanji here. How would you navigate.” The two kept up their banter as they pulled weeds.  
“that’s not fair and you know it. You said yourself that I was learning faster than any other student you taught before. I can read small sentences and basic words now! Please. Please let me buy groceries today! Please!” the young man was pleading with Seshin. Seshin could see the passion in his eyes, and decided to take pity on him  
“alright…you can go and buy the temple supplies today. Here is the money, and here are the directions to the store….if you do a good job I will let you keep the change.” Seshin meant that in a kind way. But Omni got a little pissed when Seshin said that last part.  
“I had two jobs where I was from….i’m not eight years old. Your change does not motivate me…” Omni looked at Seshin crossly. Seshin just laughed.  
“Sorry. Sorry. I might be taking this fatherly role a bit seriously. Here. Try to make it quick” Seshin handed him the money and Omni made his way down the temple steps. He walked the directions Seshin told him, all the while he could hear the slithering whispers of the villagers on every corner. Omni took a moment to marvel at the village. It looked just like it did from when he saw it. All the detail crisp and in the same style. He even saw the mansion on the hill. It looked even more foreboding and ominous in person even though no one yet lived in it.  
“just you wait….sunako…I won’t let you kill everyone” Omni stared down the mansion with bitter disgust. His mind flashed back to the horrible slaughter. He continued making his way to the shop, the villagers whispers and gossip just bouncing past. Not effecting Omni in the slightest.  
“gossip all you want…it doesn’t bother me…man what a long path….for a small village, the walking is horrible…just glad I’m finally here.” Omni opened the door and basked in the cold air conditioning. The sun was bright outside, and the weather was hot. Humid too. But the cool air was refreshing. Without missing a beat he started to gather all of the ingredients and supplies the temple needed. He looked around at the aisle to try and find the milk. He saw the lonely gallon sitting in a cooled case. He reached over to take it, but noticed another hand grabbing it.  
Omni looked over and saw pink hair flash before his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora goes to the market and meets megumi shimizu

Sora placed his hand on the carton. Suddenly he noticed another hand placed there was well. His fingers brushed up against the other hand. He looked up and saw the pink hair flash before his eyes.  
His eyes grew wide, his jaw dropped and he could only stand in shock for a moment. There she was. Megumi Shimizu… standing right before him. The pink haired goddess he so desperately wished to save above all others was standing less than four feet away from him, alive and well, head intact, and no fangs to speak of. He looked at her for a moment. She stared back into his eyes with a scorn that sent a shiver down his spine. Her beautiful pink eyes furrowed into a malicious scowl.  
“What’s this freaks problem? I need that…..kind of in a hurry here” her arms were crossed as she continued to look crossly at Sora. Sora continued to stare into her eyes, unable to form even the simplest of words. ‘Hey! I’m talking to you…are you gonna give me that or not.” her icy gaze continued to paralyze Sora. Slowly and meekly he handed the milk to her.  
“Megumi…..i…I can’t even……I never expected to meet her like this……I’m not prepared….i…she….she’s alive!” Sora had to suppress a tear. He wanted desperately to run to her and wrap his arms around her. He wanted to hold her and thank the powers that be that she was ok. He wanted to ask her so much. He wanted to say so many things to her. He wanted too….but stopping himself was hard. As far as she knew, there were no vampires. There were no kirishiki’s, no Tatsumi, nothing but Yuuki. And Sora was only “some guy” to her. If he were to try any of what he was thinking then she would probably give him a similar treatment to a character named Masao. She would often mentally and physically abuse him, not that he didn’t have it coming, and to much comedic effect, but Sora wasn’t keen on a high heel to his forehead. She didn’t seem to find his thinking amusing and started to get more aggressive with him. Her piercing eyes shook him for a moment.  
“Stop staring at me!” Sora gasped for a moment. He was well on his way to destroying any chance to save the people, and to a more specific extent, Megumi, from the shiki. He needed to figure out what to say and fast. Awkwardly, and with a slight stutter, Sora began to speak.  
“Sorry...” Sora said meekly. He had planned to seek Megumi out eventually, considering she was one of the characters he wanted to meet most, but fate decided to thrust the two together before Sora could prepair anything to say, outside of the normal fantasy jargon. But this was a real situation, his dialogue and actions had consequences. And he was in no hurry to invoke the bad ones.  
“do I really bother these people that much, these plebs can’t even get over the slightest thing…the cream…..are you going to give it to me or not.” Sora hesitated for a moment still dumbstruck. Then he realized Megumi said “cream”, for a moment his curiosity overpowered his reserve.  
“Cream? i thought this was milk…” Sora was still perplexed.  
“is this guy insane? It says cream right on the package…how could you possibly get them confused.” She was starting to grow bored. A dreadful look crept across her face.  
“Maybe Seshin didn’t teach me as much as I needed to know. For some reason everyone sounds the same to me….the spoken language I can understand…but I still can’t read most of this stuff…sorry…I’m still new here…I have some trouble reading this language.” Megumi raised an eyebrow. That bit of information caught her off guard. But instantly the tumblers fit into place. Hurriedly she rushed into his face, her pink twin-tails rubbed on his cheeks. She palmed his cheeks and crooked his head from side to side, his neck popped, and she continued to look him over, eyes wide in excitement.  
“Oh my god! Are you part of the new family from the mansion?!” she was still clutching his cheeks.  
“Did they move in already?!?!?! New family? No, I live at the temple, I had to move here because Seshin is my next of kin” Sora could barely muffle that out, Megumi was still fascinated with him, and she was still mashing his face. But as soon as he said he wasn’t from the mansion, her enthusiasm dropped a bit.  
‘The temple?…..WAIT! So you’re the guy who decided to attempt some daring stunt and ended up crashing through the building on the outskirts of town! Hahaha that was pretty funny, I bet the temple monk nearly had a heart attack!” Megumi was holding her sides laughing. And Sora was left in a state of confusion.  
“Daring stunt?...i see my reputation precedes me.….you said there was a new family in that big castle? I thought no one lived there.” Sora had to make sure of the kirishiki’s whereabouts. He couldn’t take preventative action if they were already here.  
“Well….no, I guess not…you seemed like someone who might live there…and I just assumed they had moved in.” the tension had dissipated from the room and the two seemed to march toward neutral terms, much to Sora’s relief. He didn’t quite know how to handle Megumi. She seemed quite volatile in the series, amicable one moment then angry the next.  
“You seem disappointed” Sora smiled smugly, Megumi in turn did the same.  
“Maybe a little. Then again, you aren’t one of these people….that automatically gives you an advantage.”  
“Don’t like the village?” Sora knew full well that Megumi held nothing but contempt for sotoba and the people in it. But for the sake of appearances he had to maintain an ignorant façade.  
“Are you joking?! This place is horrible! Not even a single clothing store! As soon as I graduate I’m getting out of here and moving to a big city!” she held herself for a moment while she reveled in her fantasy.  
“Yeah…I can’t stand this place either, everyone looks at me weirdly…and I think they talk about me behind my back…is it morally questionable to exploit my knowledge of Megumi and her habits for personal gain and gravitas? Perhaps….but am I gonna do it anyway? hell yeah!... honestly I miss the city….hook line and sinker” Sora had to suppress a laugh. Though he was quite fond of Megumi, he still felt a devilish thrill in playing her and pushing her buttons. Megumi actually looked a little down after Sora said that.  
“These people are horrible. Every time something is different or unique, they feel the need to snuff it out. They look at rare things strangely…” she wore a gloomy energy, and Sora could tell me might have hit a nerve.  
“ugh…I'm a dick…my ass is grass if she ever finds out my origins….hey, sorry if I brought up a bad memory or something, I didn’t mean too.” Megumi smiled tepidly. And Sora regretted saying that.  
“Not your fault, these people just really get to me.” Her scowl started to creep back.  
“you and me both…though I would still rather not see them all as vampires…..or at the very least, without stakes in their hearts…I only have a few days until the shiki arrive…and Megumi here is the first to go….i have to think of a plan of action, and fast….whatever…here take the cream, I don’t need it.” Megumi smiled politely as she removed the carton from Sora’s grip.  
“I do have one question.” Megumi looked somber and grim for a moment. Sora replied hesitantly.  
“Shoot…uh oh…she looks pissed…..”  
“Will you tell me about the city?!” she knelt at his feet for a moment with a big gleaming smile. And Sora nearly burst when the tension released. But he decided to humor her, after all it was more time they could spend together…and more time he could spend away from the temple. That prospect alone was enough.  
“well there are big neon lights everywhere at night, tall buildings all over the place, they even shade the streets during the day, there are lots of shops and malls too…there is also a river of gumdrops…and the sand on the beach is made of sugar… they are usually pretty lively places. Totally different from a village like this.” Sora was desperately trying to hide the sarcastic undertones in his description but he nearly couldn’t resist filling her head with nonsense, it might make convincing her to leave, if it came to that, easier. But he remember how he upset her just a few moments before, and wasn’t willing to do it again.  
“Wow…it sounds like everything I hoped it would be and more!...did you ever go into any clubs?” her eyes were wide with fascination.  
“I’m still underage. I try to sneak in with friends every now and then…but we always get busted, doesn’t bother me much, clubs aren’t really my scene…and it isn’t worth taking on some brick shithouse of a bouncer just to get a few overpriced drinks. Though, I doubt you need to worry about that. Pretty girls always get in and get drinks free…just make sure you watch the bartender pour it. Lotta shady dudes and all.” Sora took a glance at the clock, and realized Seshin would be expecting him back anytime. Begrudgingly he had to break off his little “encounter’ with Megumi.   
“I’ll be sure to take that advice…well it was nice meeting you I guess… see you around.” Megumi rounded up her things and started to turn away. But Sora caught her shoulder  
“Yeah, later. Oh hey….you should visit me at the temple sometime. It gets boring, and I don’t really know anybody here.” Megumi’s face went slightly red for a moment.  
“Is he asking me out?! Maybe…..if I’m in the area……I might drop by…for like a second……but don’t count on it….wait…I don’t even know your name!” Megumi was growing indignant.  
“Holy hell…she actually entertained the idea….never expected that…my name? Its om…my name is Sora…I'm never gonna get used to that retarded name”  
“Mine is Megumi, Megumi shimizu. Remember that. Because one day, I’m gonna be famous!” she put on that haughty persona that Sora was used to seeing.  
“You have no idea….well. I guess I should get going.” And with that Sora bolted to the register. He wasn’t eager on sticking around and potentially ruin the moment. Megumi watched him as he fumbled with the ingredients and spices as he walked out of the store. She spoke quietly to herself.  
“That was weird…..that guy is no Yuuki, that’s for sure…..pretty entertaining though.” She chuckled to herself under a hushed breath.  
A few minutes later, Sora was well on the path to the temple. But he grew exhausted in the intense heat, the heavy bags certainly didn’t help. He found a large rock and sat down for a moment to take a break. The sun shined brightly overhead, and Sora had to squint to see anything in any relative detail.  
“Everything looks so different here…it takes a while to get used to it.” Sora sighed “I’m glad I finally met Megumi, I almost forgot to seek her out, the only thing to do at that temple is work. So I end up doing far more than Seshin needs me to, just so I don’t die of boredom. I’m tired…..so very tired.” Sora’s eyes grew heavy. He resisted the urge to nod off; the area grew slightly grey thanks to the intense sunshine. He put his hands over his face and slouched down. The sun warmed his back pleasantly, and he found the allure of sleep insurmountable. Within seconds, he was already fast under the sandman’s gaze. His thoughts swirled in that state. He thought of the world he was in. the people in it. Megumi, Natsuno, Tohru, Seshin, Ozaki ,Sunako, nao and many other faces all raced past his dreams. Then he saw a great fire. It engulfed the village, its intense heat left nothing but ashes in its wake. Its amber flames licked the sides of all the buildings and shops. All the homes too. Natsuno’s home, and the mansion resonated with him in particular. Everyone was inside of it….all of them bloody and broken, stakes jammed squarely in their hearts. Tohru and Megumi…those two bothered him the most. As those images flashed by, his sleep started to stir. But disturbing as the dream may have been, it was far from enough to rouse him from such a dead rest. Sora slept on that rock for who knows how long. Until….  
“WAIT LOVE! COME BACK!!!!” Sora squinted. But suddenly he felt something small and furry rush him. It caught him so far off guard that he fell right off of the rock. All he could make out in that dazed state was that there was something on top of him. It was playfully nudging him and licking his face.  
“What the hell?!” Sora snapped back to reality in an instant, picking up the small dog by its shoulders. It still made a valiant attempt to lick his face, and began to bark excitedly.  
“Oh, thank you for catching him! I lost my grip on his leash” Sora turned his head to the sound of the voice, he instantly recognized a familiar face.  
“kaori?! Yeah, no problem. I used to have a dog that did the same thing…..and her dog…..love…” Sora handed the dog back to her, and she re chained it. As the two stood there the dog started to play and jump around. It was a small fawn colored dog with a face that resembled an upside down heart. Very unusual. It began rolling around on its back, palming the air and drooling.  
“my name is kaori, this is my dog love.” The girl seemed to be very cheerful, quite different to how Megumi was when the two first met. Sora looked over to the dog with restrained contempt. He was never fond of small dogs, in his mind they were all rats…totally and completely ill behaved. Love was the case and point.  
“Your dog….” Sora continued to observe love’s unusual behavior. “he looks kinda funny…does he have down syndrome or something?” kaori looked confused for a second. And Sora continued to keep his eye on the dog. With a mild shudder he backed up a step.  
“I don’t think so….i guess he is just an unusual breed.” Sora’s insult to the dog went completely over her head, and she still maintained that obnoxiously happy smile. Sora didn’t mind that.  
“You call that rat a breed? That thing is a disgrace to dogs everywhere…bleghhh…. My name is o…Sora still getting used to this damned name.”  
“ARE YOU THE GUY WHO JUMPED INTO THE TEMPLE ON SOME DARING STUNT?!” kaori got right up close to him, he could feel her breath on his cheek as she looked him over. She palmed his cheeks and turned his head from side to side. His neck popped again.  
“You’re not in my personal space at all…that’s not weird what you’re doing….why does everyone need to do this to my face?...this was fun when Megumi did it…but kaori is just too weird for me” Sora muffled again. ‘also, why does everyone think I did some daring stunt….lets clear things up…I came here from a parallel universe as the result of a capricious deity that decided to drop me, quite literally, from the sky into the temple below…that was an accident, I slipped and fell. Nothing daring, or stunty about it.” Kaori laughed a bit as Sora tried to explain his…relative….innocence.  
“I figured as much, rumors spread pretty fast here. But it’s fun to think about, isn’t it?” Sora couldn’t help but smile back, her joy was infectious. Sora looked at the sky, the sun was just starting to set and Sora realized he was late to the temple.  
“Oh crap! I gotta get going, sorry kaori, Seshin has to be worried out of his mind” Sora picked up all of the stuff again and hauled ass to the temple. Kaori was still sitting in his dust, dog in hand, wondering what just happened. She shrugged it off and went on her own way. With a giant leap, Sora crashed through the temple doors to greet a certain junior monk with a bored look in his eye.  
“You’re late Sora…..did you get what we needed?” Seshin’s initially stern look faded into a warm smile. Sora let out a sigh of relief.  
“Yeah, everything except for milk. I let a pretty girl have the last liter the market had.” Seshin laughed.  
“That would certainly explain the late arrival. But try not to get carried away next time.” Seshin went back to tending his cup of tea.  
“No Seshin. You’ve got it all wrong. We only talked for a few minutes…..i kind of….fell asleep on the way back.” Sora spoke meekly. He dreaded the lecture Seshin was sure to give him. And sure enough Seshin started it.  
“you need to tone down how much you work. You are already working over twelve hours a day here. You know I don’t need you to. You probably only need to work half of that, then another few hours for lessons. Until school starts in a few days.” Sora’s heart plummeted when Seshin mentioned school.  
“what…..school…..but…but I just graduated a few months ago….WHY DO I HAVE TO GO BACK?!?!?!” Sora was ready to tear his hair out.  
“Relax. I enrolled you in the tenth grade. Most of the material you should already know, and the school system knows you are foreign. They can offer documents you can read if our written language proves too difficult for you…..not that I won’t try to help you.”  
“But why do I have to go back in the first place?” Sora was determined to fight that as hard as he could.  
“Do you know how strange it would seem that we didn’t enroll you? The temple has to keep up its reputation after all.” Sora was still dumbstruck  
“How am I supposed to fight the villages destruction if I’m crammed in a classroom?!...are you absolutely sure….”  
“It migjht seem hard, but I’m sure you’ll manage. Besides, I don’t have any proof that you did graduate. If you are stuck in this world like you say, then doesn’t it make sense to work a life here?” Seshin handed Sora a cup of tea, but he was still in shock. “Don’t worry about it; I won’t make you work the temple when the school year is in session. Now, why don’t you come and say hi to our guests. The mouhto family is here for their monthly offering. I think their son, Tohru is about your age.” Seshin gestured to the door across the courtyard.  
“Tohru!..yeah sure! I’d love to meet someone new!” without even acknowledging Seshin Sora ran to the other door, he opened it quickly. A quaint family was sitting down having tea with the temple mistress.  
“Sora? Did my son tell you to come meet our guests?” Sora bowed to the group for a second. And the temple mistress smiled at him.  
“Yes, Mrs. Muroi. Hello everyone, my name is Muroi Sora…does Seshin really want me to do all of this bowing and honor stuff…..religion and tradition are just so pointless. Then again Seshin himself starts to doubt his faith later…..this might be something I can work on with him.” Sora tried his hardest to appear professional, but it was more than obvious to everyone in the room that he was forcing it.  
“Hey! My name is Tohru!” the other family members introduced themselves, though more professionally than Tohru did.  
“Man, it’s nice to see someone my own age here…this place can get pretty dull….gotta make a good impression with Tohru…..megumi may be first priority…but Tohru is easily a close second”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora gets friendly with tooru, and sunako finalizes plans to move to sotoba

again, my name is Muroi Sora, sorry if my introduction was a little intense…..this is definitely Tohru….i shouldn’t have to worry about what he says or what I say to him….if an ass like Natsuno can win his good side then I should be a shew in…it’s just kind of dull living in the temple.” Sora smiled as politely as he could as he continued his faux bow. Tohru smiled back, and Sora picked up of the cue to ease up, he regained his standing stature and relaxed a little.  
“This place is so peaceful, why wouldn’t you like it here?” Tohru laughed.  
“peaceful is good for a few hours at a time, but if its all you know every day it gets boring….i’m a young man, I need stimulation!” Tohru looked at Sora queerly for a second. ”NO not like that! I meant, I need activity, something to do! I can’t just sit.”  
“Oh, you confused me for a second there.” Tohru smiled warmly at Sora.  
“Yeah….i seem to have that problem, when I say something…people seem to take it the wrong way pretty often. Just trust me. I always mean well.” Sora overacted his embarrassment just a little.  
“You remind me of my friend Natsuno a little bit. He can’t stand this place either…and people always take what he says the wrong way.” Sora had to hide his disgust. Of all the people Tohru could have compared him to; Natsuno was probably the second worst.  
“well….at least he didn’t compare me to Masao…he sounds like a…cool guy……bleghhh, just threw up in my mouth a little bit…..” Sora wanted to drink a glass of vinegar just to get the taste of complimenting Natsuno out of his mouth, there was nothing more degrading than praising someone he hated.  
“That sounded difficult for him to say, do those two know each other? Once you get to know him, yeah, not bad at all.” Sora continued to act politely despite his inner disgust. Natsuno wasn’t a bad character per say in Sora’s eyes. But it was in part thanks to him that the village was destroyed.  
“Natsuno is such an insufferable prick…..so…if this village isn’t as boring as you say…then what do you do around here?” Sora laughed smugly, but Tohru continued his friendly jest.  
“There are lots of walking trails”  
“…fascinating…” Sora said boringly.  
“You can go to the library” Tohru joked.  
“I can also bash my face in with a sledgehammer, jeeze no wonder Megumi hates this place so much…not really my scene” Sora joked back.  
“I play lots of video games myself” that caught Sora’s interest, he raised an eyebrow.  
“What systems?” Sora asked with begrudged curiosity.  
“I see I’ve piqued your interest” Tohru put on an even larger grin. Sora couldn’t help but smile back. He decided to get one of the chairs, he leaned back and put his feet on the table.  
“Perhaps….” Sora playfully admitted.  
“I mostly play on the dreamcast now, but I used to have an Atari.”  
“Ah, you’re a fan of the classics” Sora laughed but Tohru looked at him strangely again.  
“The dreamcast is top of the line right now.” Tohru said meekly. Sora’s blood turned to ice.  
“Shit…its 1995 isn’t it…sorry I’m just a pretty serious gamer, everything seems old to me…” Sora dropped a cold sweat.  
“Oh, now I understand, you should come over and play them with me sometimes. My other friends aren’t really into it, so I usually just end up playing alone while they watch.” Sora sipped his tea arrogantly.  
“Sure, anytime. Hope you like the taste of defeat!” Sora laughed haughtily. One thing he loved was making his opponents wallow in the taste of defeat.  
“Bring it on!.....what was your name again?”  
“Sora…..yes, the guy who fell through the old temple roof….if you mash my face, you are gonna have a bad day.” Sora braced himself for the onslaught of curiosity villagers always seemed to give him. But Tohru only looked concered.  
“Are you okay? I hope you aren’t hurt!” Sora blushed a little bit.  
“Wow…you’re pathologically nice aren’t you…yeah….cut my back pretty bad on an old board, but the clinic doctor Ozaki, he stitched me up. Pulled ‘em out a few days ago...other than a little soreness it healed up pretty good.” Tohru still looked distressed.  
“So, the rumors…they say you were trying something stupid, is that true?” Tohru asked meekly. He was afraid that Sora would give him some sort of vitriol for prying. But Sora just laughed.  
“Don’t believe what these people say, I promise you…I just slipped.” Sora said nervously.  
“Tohru, let’s get going. We finished the offering.” His father was irritated. The offering took longer than it usually did. After they left Seshin and Sora started to sweep the room.  
“You two seemed to get along well.”  
“Yeah, he even invited me over to his place” Seshin looked deep in thought for a moment.  
“Is that so?”  
“Hey, you can’t hold me hostage here forever.” Sora joked smugly.  
“I was never holding you here; you can come and go as you please so long as you finish your errands. I just thought it would serve you better to learn a bit first.”  
‘Yeah…I know, sorry if I sound a bit cranky. I’m just going stir crazy.” Seshin stared at Sora stoically for a moment as the two swept. The dust from the broom got caught in Sora’s eyes for a moment so he had to rub them. And he didn’t see Seshin rub the scar on his wrist.  
“There was a time when I was young that I desperately wished to leave sotoba myself…to tell the truth, I still do.”…Sora turned his head and spoke knowingly to Seshin.  
“I know, Seshin……trust me, I know all about it…you’ll get out, trust me. Maybe even on happier terms this time.” Seshin was taken aback a little. He had to tip his glasses. And Sora himself looked sad for a moment.  
“How?” Seshin stuttered a little.  
“Look…don’t worry about it, just remember…this village. Its cursed.” Sora looked at Seshin defiantly, though he himself was confused by how cryptic the young man continued to be. But just as soon as Sora’s serious demeanor appeared, he started to joke again, and a big grin curled on his face.  
“Chin up Seshin! Oh hey! It looks like it’s time for me to hit the sack.” Seshin tried to grab his shoulder but Sora slipped away too quickly. Sora continued to back up to his feigned ignorance.  
“Wait Sora! What do you mean “this village is cursed?”” Sora mumbled something inaudibly to Seshin in a sarcastic manner from behind the wall.  
“I wish he would just tell me what was on his mind….” Seshin brushed off the thought and finished sweeping the room.  
Meanwhile  
The night air in the city warehouse was stale. Sounds of large machines and vehicles were constantly ambient in the background. The atmosphere carried thick with it the stench of oil and smog and the warehouse had no electric light. Only the soft glow of the moon reflected from its decrepit machinery. A large box started to shift and scurry. It opened violently and a wave of Styrofoam chips poured across the filth ridden floor. A young little girl crawled out of the mess, brushing the lint from her dark purple hair and from her frilly dress. She stood half asleep for a moment, letting her pale skin bask in the moonlight. She yawned softly, extending a pair of long fangs that glittered in the light. She walked a few paces, her face was partialy obscured by the harshly contrasting shadows. and tapped on another box.  
“Chizuru? It’s time to wake up.” The girl spoke softly, almost like she was cooing to her own child. The second box started to shake and shuffle like the first did. Another wave of chips fell out and another figure stepped free from the boxes confines. This woman was much taller. She was wearing an exotic looking dress that left little of her curvaceous figure to the imagination. Her long blonde hair draped down over her back in many erratic and harshly angled strands. Her skin too was pale, and her fangs even longer than the girl’s. However both of their eyes were black as the night, no differentiation between the iris and pupil. She groaned loudly and yawned in turn with the girl.  
“What time is it Sunako?” she said groggily.  
“Just after nine” she rubbed the back of her head, scratching out the last of the Styrofoam.  
“My back is sore…I’m tired of sleeping in boxes and gutters! It’s so undignified, especially for someone like me! When is that house going to be ready?” Chizuru protested childishly.  
“Relax. We can move in after a few days. They just need to produce the last of our belongings….then I can meet mr. Muroi, and I can make a permanent home of that little village. It’ll be easy.” The two vampires heard footsteps coming outside of the warehouse. A large man with blue hair ran through the door. He bowed to Sunako and spoke in a flustered manner.  
“I apologize, mistress! I wasn’t here to wake you up and you slept in. you and Chizuru” she looked at him fondly, he knelt down and she gave him a pat on the head, he blushed just slightly then the woman motioned for him to rise. She spoke haughtily to him.  
“So, I presume Seshiro is working with the moving company as we speak? How long can we expect to stay in these rancid conditions?”  
“Didn’t Sunako just tell you that we are gonna be here for a few days?” tatsumi sounded slightly annoyed.  
“Good, just checking to see if you were paying attention!” she laughed arrogantly and Tatsumi blew it off with bored irritance. His smile crept back as he turned to Sunako again.  
“So mistress, shall we feed tonight?” Tatsumi pressed his hands together and made a begging motion towards Sunako.  
“Yes, that sounds perfect. There has been an inquisitive night watchman starting to patrol the warehouse, he’ll do….i think his name was Sasaki or something.” Sunako bit her thumb; she had a worrisome look on her face.  
“Plan to hypnotize him and tell him to buzz off after you two are done?” Tatsumi laughed.  
“Oh, he won’t be causing us a problem that’s for sure…” Sunako said maliciously. But Tatsumi could only muster concern and confusion. “Chizuru, let’s go” she said proudly.

Sasaki traipsed along the concrete walkway; the night shift never bothered him much. Especially since he was a large man with a gun. He turned on his flashlight; it made a thin beam of light that cut through the pitch dark city sky. His steps echoed across the docks, he would point his flashlight anytime he heard something mysterious. Though it was usually just an aggressive rat. He continued to walk slowly around the warehouse. He had heard far too much noise in it as of late. And his supervisors thought it would be best if he patrolled the warehouse more heavily than usual. He heard a few oil drums clang, and in one fluid motion shined a bright beam on them. The cans were shaking, but nothing was there.  
“jeeze….rats are getting bigger every day.” he rounded a turn, an old dilapidated crane lay in wreckage before him, he gave it a quick scan, a few rats scattered into the darkness but nothing was there. He heard more shuffling noises, panned his flashlight and saw nothing but a few shaking boxes and barrels. He walked towards the source of the larger noise. He saw a pair of eyes glint in the flashlight for a split second. But chalked it up to another animal. Though as he walked closer a creeping sense of dread started to build in his mind. He nervously put a hand on the small pistol in his belt.  
“Hello? Is anyone there?” he was running a cold sweat. Suddenly a little girl walked slowly from the4 shadows. She kept her head turned to the side. Sasaki walked towards her.  
“Are you alright? What are you doing in such a place as this?” she turned and started to sniffle.  
“I can’t find my mommy!” she said tearily. The guard felt bad for her and gave her a pat on the head.  
“Don’t worry little one….where did you last see her” Sunako hid a devilish grin from him before putting back on the frightened act.  
“She was just over there!” Sunako pointed towards the barrels.  
“There?” sasaki looked in the same place, but saw no signs of human presence…then he looked back at Sunako, who was staring at him deeply. He noticed her pale cold skin. “hey….your eyes? Whats wrong with….ah!” Sunako lowered her long fangs and made a lunge at his neck, but he shoved her down and drew his gun. He fired a shot and missed. Then the other two crept out from the shadows. Chisuru put a hand on her hip seductively.  
“My, what a handsome man you are!” she said playfully as she drew her own fangs. Sasaki was paralyzed in shock. He fired another shot at the group and the bulled bounced from a barrel. Missing them all. Tatsumi took slow steps closer to him; he could feel each step drop his stomach. His eyes were still wide in shock.  
“Mistress…should I hold him down?” Tatsumi asked playfully.  
“Yes”.  
“Right away. I’m sorry about this friend but orders are orders.” Tatsumi continued to step slowly towards the lone guard. Sasaki was drenched in sweat and fired a volley of shots emptying his clip. A few hit Tatsumi and his blood sprayed across the moonlit wall. One shot hit him dead between the eyes. Tatsumi fell back and sasaki let out a sigh of relief…but that was quickly replaced with fear as Tatsumi slowly lifted himself off of the ground, his injuries closing.  
“Monsters! What are you?!”” sasaki screamed at the advancing group of vampires as he to get up and sprint away.  
“That wasn’t very nice…..it’s not very responsible to play with guns you know…” Tatsumi said sarcastically. Sasaki screamed in fear and made a run for it. Tatsumi was on him in a second. With a quick tackle, sasaki was grounded. Tatsumi had him in a rough hold, all of his limbs subdued under the jinrou’s otherworldly strength. All he could do was watch as the other two shiki slowly crept towards him. Tatsumi put a hand over his mouth as the two sunk their fangs into him. His muffled screams fell on deaf ears. Only the rats bore witness to his struggle. Once the two were done Tatsumi lifted his hold on the dazed guard.  
“What now, mistress? Are you going to give him a command?” Tatsumi said confidently.  
“Tatsumi….feed on him too.” Sunako looked at Tatsumi sternly.  
“But…one more feeding will kill him….are you sure? We don’t need to.” Tatsumi said, confused.  
“We are about to take over an entire village. We will have to kill many people to forward our dreams….to have a place that we can call home….think about it like this, he didn’t hesitate to kill you, so why should you care?” Sunako said with childish glee. “Besides, if he rises, then imagine how useful someone with law enforcement knowledge will be, not to mention the strength you get as a jinrou.” Tatsumi begrudgingly agreed and sank his fangs into the poor man, draining the last of his blood.  
‘Again…sorry about that” he said to the guard apathetically.  
“What…were you…..i feel so cold..” Sasaki looked through heavy eyelids at the monsters who had just attacked him, he hadn’t the strength to move. He couldn’t even manage to stay conscious. The last thing he felt was a growing cold before he slipped into nothingness.  
“We should probably lay low for the next couple of days mistress, people might ask questions about this guy.” Tatsumi said, the goofy smile reappearing on his face.  
“Trust me Tatsumi….we will be long gone….i’m coming mr. Muroi”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> megumi tries desperately to get natsuno to pay attention to her. and in one final scheme, manipulates sora into helping her.

There Megumi sat, hidden under the cover of darkness and forest. The object of her desire mere feet away, hidden behind the window. A pale light was glowing though the house, marking out his silhouette. She crouched deeper into the bushes, stopping only for a moment to untangle a strand of her delicate pink hair from the branch; it made a soft rustling noise and the sound seemed to stir the boy in the window. He opened the screen and peered outside. He saw a flash of pink hair among shaking bushes. He thought to himself, a scowl plastered across his face.  
“she’s there again….I’ve given her no sign at all that I would return her feelings….why can’t she just leave me alone?” he sighed as he leaned on the frame to peer deeper into the pitch night.  
When she saw the window open her heart started to pulse at incredible speed. Her face flushed with red and her thoughts started to run from her.  
”Yuuki!” She sighed. Suddenly she remembered the large mansion on top of the hill, everyone said it was out of place in Sotoba, but she knew better than the mouth breathers that inhabited the village.”it would be a dream come true to live with him in that big beautiful house!” her eyes filled with stars as she tried to live her fantasy.  
“Natsuno! Come take a break.” A voice echoed from deeper inside the house.  
“Sure….” He never took his eyes away from the forest while responding. Slowly and with a bitter look on his face he peeked out one last time….he closed the window in a rush and walked off.  
“Damn” she couldn’t contain her disappointment that she only saw Natsuno for a few moments tonight. He used to leave his window open more often, but lately he seemed to keep it closed more than usual….”could he have seen me? No, it was pitch black…there was no way.” She laughed to herself on her walk home.  
The next day  
Megumi walked along the main village path, dressed lavishly as usual. From what she heard Natsuno saying a few nights before, he was supposed to be visiting the Hasegawas café today.”Ohh…this could be my perfect chance! I’ll walk up to him, dressed beautifully as usual, the well get to talking, then well fall in love! Then, then! Well escape Sotoba together and have a fabulous fancy life in a big city!” she could picture it all perfectly. One look from Natsuno at her staggering beauty, and love was assured. He would take hold of her romantically, eyes sparkling like morning dew. She giggled with glee as she skipped along the path, bathing in her fantasy. The old crones in the village were clicking their tongues and spouting their usual gossip to Megumi.  
“This isn’t the place to dress in fancy clothes my dear”  
“My, you certainly are dressed…interestingly”  
They would say rather tame things to her face…but the comments she overheard behind her back were much less friendly. She would hear them call her anything from trollop to exhibitionist to prostitute and everything in between. It hurt her feelings, but she was far too prideful to show them anything but spite and reserved politeness. Though each word they spoke burned her psyche like an ember flying on to her skin. The heat of the summer was fierce, adding even more tension to her already fragile façade. The sun bore down on her oppressively, and she had to shield her eyes from the light every time she looked in its general direction. The dress she was in, though beautiful, was not meant for such heat. And she found herself wiping away sweat frequently on her walk to the café.  
After a few more moments of walking, she reached its doors. They were painted ornamentally with black and gold. She stepped inside and stood still for a moment, letting the rush of cool air circulate around her. She sighed a breath of relief as she took a few steps further inside. She gave the room a quick scan and spied the object of her adoration sitting in a far corner, sitting alone, and eyes glued to a menu.  
”hello ma’am, welcome to café Hasegawa, where would you like to sit today?” the waiter said politely. Giving a slight bow to the pink haired girl.  
“That corner of the room is fine,” she said apathetically, pointing a finger in Natsuno’s direction. The waiter accepted awkwardly and led her to the corner. She started to fake small talk with him until she reached Natsuno’s area and sat down in the booth next to him. She gave the waitress a small drink order and then tuned her head. Playing it off as a chance encounter she put on a big smile and started to talk to him in an excited and overly friendly way.  
“OH! Hey Yuuki! You go to this place too? I love the tea here! So what are you gonna order, huh?” she leaned in closer to his direction, but he just buried his face deeper into the menu. She was still doe eyed and smiling as she tried to talk to him, despite his silence.  
“Every god damned day…what did I ever do to make her so fixated on me?” Natsuno shuddered as she kept pelting him with friendly banter, not once even looking in her direction or pricking his ears to the sound of her voice. After a moment a waiter came to service him.  
“Hello there sir, sorry for the delay, how may I help you today?” Natsuno refused to look at the waiter too. Meekly and under his breath he responded.  
“Pasta ….that’s fine” he said through gritted teeth.  
“I love pasta too! What’s your favorite kind? What do you like to put on it?” She continued trying to spark up any kind of conversation. The waiter looked perplexed and leaned in to Natsuno’s ear.  
“Why won’t you talk to that girl? She seems nice enough, and super pretty too.” Natsuno gave the waiter a dreadful look, and he turned tail and walked away.  
“So Yuuki? Do you come here often? Do you order the same thing every time? Or do you like to try different things? What’s your favorite food? What about your favorite color, mines pink, but I’m sure you knew that….so Yuuki?” Megumi gave asking him questions her best effort. But even she started to notice Natsuno showing signs of anger. His head was shaking softly, and he was digging a groove in the table with one of his fingernails. She moved a step back in her seat. And after a few more lackluster attempts at starting a talk, decided it was best to just leave. Defeated and hurt, she threw a wad of money on the counter for her drink, and with her head held low, exited the resturaunt. She started to think to herself through broken bouts of tears.  
“What can I do to make him talk to me? Why won’t he? What’s wrong with me?” as she walked the path, she noticed the temple in the distance. ”hmm…..that weird guy…..Sora? He said he lived there….” Suddenly a devious plan crept into her mind; she couldn’t help but crack a smile at the thought. She changed direction heading for the temple.  
Meanwhile  
“Hey Sora!” Seshin shouted from across the path. Sora was pulling weeds and sweeping as usual, a bored look on his face.  
“Yeah, what? ...please don’t give me another task….I’m already busy…” sora briefly stopped sweeping, letting the dust settle all around the broom. Seshin walked over to the teen. Sora was working up a sweat, and his eyes started to sting. He squinted as the Jr. monk walked up to him.  
“Why don’t you take today off? You’ve been working really hard lately, and I don’t want you to overexert yourself.” Sora stood suprized for a moment, he took his pinky and cleared the wax from his ears, before looking at Seshin queerly.  
“The….what?” he said, still flabbergasted.  
“Take today off. Consider it an order.” Seshin said with a warm smile.  
“Aww…come on, you know I won’t have anything to do.” He pleaded childishly.  
“Not so! I stopped by the library the other day, they had a few books in English, so you should be able to read them with ease.” Seshin pointed Sora in the direction of a few dusty books sitting on a short legged table.  
“Thank you Seshin…. That means a lot….i could always just piddle with my phone…but its only got so much charge, and I don’t know how I can give it more here….i might need to use it for something important…so I can’t waste the precious battery…” Sora fished in his pocket and pulled out the small device, quickly he clicked the screen on. He turned the brightness down to minimum and turned off all of the features and sound, except for media play, took note of his battery counter, and shut it off. “at the lowest power settings, I should have about twenty four hours of life left…..i could show two people shiki in that time before the phone dies…..if I ever need to, then I had better choose wisely…Seshin is definitely my first choice…..but I’m pretty sure I can keep the kirashiki’s away on my own….”  
“Seshin? Do I have any errands I need to do for myself today?” he asked, catching the monk on the shoulder.  
“You’ll need to return those books, and get a refill on your antibiotics, but I’ll take you to do those things tomorrow, I know the written language still gives you some trouble. Just enjoy the day, don’t worry about anything for now.” Sora fidgeted with the strings on his hoodie as the monk was explaining to him.  
“All right…..I guess I’ll take a look at those books. Is it alright if I get something to eat?”  
“A patron left some rice cakes yesterday, feel free to them” Seshin handed him the package as the two walked into the room with the books. Sora made his way over to the table and started sorting through them.  
“So let’s see. We’ve got “Moby Dick”, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, “Catcher in the Rye”, “Animal Farm”…..i see the library had all of the latest hits,” Sora said with bored sarcasm. Seshin laughed as Sora grimaced at the selection.  
“Haha, what were you expecting. It’s just a small town library. We barely have any contemporary books in Japanese, you’re lucky they had any in English at all. Which reminds me? Why can you speak Japanese fluently when you can’t read it?” Sora looked perplexed after he heard that.  
“What do you mean Seshin? Both of us are speaking English right now.” Seshin looked even more confused than Sora.  
“Sora…I promise you, we’re both speaking Japanese.” Sora looked even more shocked.  
“…Maybe, there is some sort of magic at work…..I can understand Seshin, he even sounds like his English voice actor …..Then again, I was ripped from my own world and dropped into this one, so I guess this isn’t such a far leap….after all, the power, or voice, or whoever it was that dropped me here wanted me to try to change it, I guess that would be impossible if I couldn’t even communicate on a basic level….my parents just raised me weirdly I guess.” Sora continued shuffling through the books until he noticed one on the floor. “Hmm….oh “Homer’s Odyssey “this one is my favorite book!” Sora was elated; he had read that book over and over.  
“Ah, I see, you like fantasy then. Well I'm glad I could find something acceptable for you.” Seshin picked the book up and handed it to Sora, who had a big gleaming smile on his face.  
“Yeah Seshin, you’re the best!...I guess I can read this for a 34th time.” Sora picked up the books and the package of rice cakes as he headed into his room.  
Sora sat down on his lonely futon, the walls in his temple room were barren, and he hadn’t had much free time to collect any decorations for them, so they just sat…empty and beige. He reached a hand and picked up a rice cake, taking a large bite. “Bland…..like all of the food here, god, I miss potato chips and soda…” Sora began reading the book, laying down and holding it over his eyes. He started to feel sluggish, eyes darting from one section of the page to another, not in any linear order. But it didn’t matter, Sora had read through that book so many times he nearly had it memorized” within a few moments he was powerless to overcome his desire to sleep. He fell flat on the bed; the rice cake fell out of his hand and rolled a few feet away. He couldn’t even manage to finish the page of the book before the sweet darkness overtook him.  
Meanwhile  
Megumi made it past the final step and up to the temple gate. With a hesitant knock, Seshin came to greet her at it.  
“Megumi? You look pretty today, how can I help you?” Seshin said through a warm smile.  
“Whatever….is Sora here?” she could hardly contain her disgust. Of all the places in Sotoba, she hated the temple the most. The village was slow to accept surely, but the temple…..that place hadn’t changed since antiquity.  
“Hmmn? Sora? How do you know him?” Seshin was genuinely interested, as far as he knew; Sora had only become acquainted with Tohru.  
“We met a few days ago at the market, he asked me to drop by and visit him sometime.” She said apathetically.  
“So this is the woman Sora was talking about…..he might be in over his head with Megumi, she can be a bit of a handful…funny enough, you couldn’t have come at a more perfect time, it’s his day off.” Seshin said, forcing an awkward smile.  
“Is that so….jeeze, does this guy work all the time or something? So will you tell me where he is or not?” Her arms were crossed, and a bored scowl was plastered all over her face.  
“No need to be impatient, his room is over here. It’s the third door on the left….Sora, you have my sympathy. Good luck,” Megumi didn’t even acknowledge the junior monk as she made her way to the room. She thought to herself as she made the last few steps up to the door.  
“Hmm….I wonder what a guy’s room is like. I’ve never actually been in a boy’s room. Mine has lots of stuffed animals, and pink lace….but men…..maybe….weapons or something? I know Yuuki has a few posters….but otherwise it was pretty bland looking. Guess I’ll find out soon enough,” Megumi put on a haughty personality, even quite rude to most people. At her core though, she was still just a teenage girl with the same questions and naïve dreams that most teenagers have. That certainly accounted for her inability to take a hint when Natsuno spurned her feelings time and time again.  
She gripped the knob, turning it hesitantly, unsure if she was in for a big surprise. She took a deep breath and cracked the door open. “Damn its dark in here….it kinda stinks too” Megumi crept into the room as silently as she could, trying to look for Sora, or at the very least…a light switch. She palmed around the door and found the button. A quick flick of the switch revealed the room in all its glory…or lack thereof. A few pieces of garbage littered the floor and books were strewn about everywhere. “I feel…disappointed, this room is even more boring than Yuuki’s, and it’s much less tidy.” She snorted in irritation. In the center of the room sat a lone futon. Lying in it was a medium sized teenager with short wavy brown hair and two freckles on his left cheek. A book was covering his face as he slept. He was snoring loudly. Megumi walked to the foot of the bed, looming over his face. She stood there for a moment, giving him the once over. “Ehh….he’s not as handsome as Yuuki….but he’s not bad looking….he’ll do.” Gently she tapped his head with the tip of her foot. “Sora?” she spoke softly. No response. “Hey, wake up!” she kicked the top of his head.  
“I’LL SAVE YOU PRINCESS!!!!” Sora shouted at the top of his lungs as he grabbed the knife under his pillow. He was panting heavily and began to sweat. Megumi had to jump back in fear. “wha-what?” Sora yawned and clicked his lips….he looked at Megumi for a moment, giving his eyes a chance to adjust to the light. “M….Megumi? What the hell are you doing in my room? Are we gonna hook up or something?” she stood there with her arms crossed, looking sourly at Sora.

  
“Keep dreaming…..and put that knife down, you almost killed me!” Sora glanced at his hand in surprise.  
“Crap! I’m sorry about that. I just have it for burglars….and vampires.” She continued to look skeptically at him. Sora set the knife back under the pillow. With an awkward laugh, he began to talk to her. “So, I see you took me up on my request. Welcome to casa de Sora! Haha. So how can I help you, or do you just want to talk?” He smiled warmly at her, blushing slightly.  
Megumi forced a smile. She tried to talk to him in the same sugary sweet way she would with Natsuno. “I was actually…wondering…..if you might want to go to Hasegawa’s café with me….once Natsuno sees me with another guy, then he’ll pay attention to me. Sorry Sora, you just happened to be the only candidate I could stomach.” She tried to fake blushing, and started to swirl a strand of her hair with the same awkward forced smile. Sora was flustered for a moment; he could barely find the words to speak.  
“Uh….I….I…..I….s-sure….I guess….oh my god! Did I really make that strong of an impression on her?” His face was flush red, he could barely speak a word without stuttering, and his hands were shaking. Megumi continued with her cheap smile.  
“If I have this much of an effect on other guys then why won’t Yuuki so much as look at me? Come on then, let’s go!” she said in an overly friendly way. Sora hesitantly got up and dusted himself off. The two got up but then a thought occurred to Sora. He grabbed Megumi’s shoulder.  
“Oh hey! Since we’re gonna be in the village anyway, do you mind helping me run a couple of errands?”  
“What kind or errands? And why can’t you do them yourself?” she asked curiously.  
“Like I said a few days ago, I can’t read Japanese very well, that’s why I need help. All I need to do is return a few library books, and check some out….also I need to stop by the clinic.” Sora pleaded to her with his hands pressed together.  
“Yeah, sure I guess I’ll help….I’m just gonna ditch you when Yuuki starts talking to me, but whatever it takes to get you to leave with me.” Sora thanked her silently and picked up his books. The two made way out of the temple as Seshin waved them off.  
“That poor boy…..god knows what she’s using him for…”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> as megumi's plans crumble to ruin, sora realizes that not every villager is friendly

Sora stretched his arms as he walked behind Megumi on the steps down from the temple. A quick yawn escaped his mouth.  
“So…Megumi?” he nervously tapped together his thumbs as the two moved down the ancient crumbling steps. She stopped for a moment, without even turning her head, she acknowledged his question.  
“Yeah, what?” she said dryly. After a few moments of walking the tediously long staircase the two finally reached bottom.  
“Why did you ask me to come with you today….not that I’m complaining or anything,” Sora looked serious when he asked, this time Megumi did turn around. She began to act like a nervous schoolgirl again, even if it was only for show. She forced a smile, and blushed slightly.  
“Well….i just wanted to get to know you is all…and make Yuuki jealous while I’m at it…there just aren’t that many people from outside of sotoba here.” Sora was growing more flustered every second.  
“What’s going on? I thought I could make Megumi like me if I were ever dropped here…but this was way easier than I thought, damn I’m good…so. Where is this place exactly? What’s it called?” Megumi sighed as the two moved along the path into inner sotoba. Dryly, she started to answer his questions.  
“It’s only a short walk away, follow me and don’t worry about it…..it’s just a small café I like to eat at, no big deal.” Sora, still hesitant, started to ask a few more questions.  
“What kinds of things do they serve?” Megumi had to hide a dreadful scowl, but she tried her best to politely answer his questions, even if every word he spoke bothered her.  
“Does he ever shut up? They serve lots of things. Italian food mostly.”   
“Oh, I love Italian food.” Megumi caught Sora smiling out of the corner of her eye.   
“That’s nice.” She said apathetically. Sora noticed how bored she seemed to be.  
“Hey…is something wrong, Megumi? You seem kinda angry…” Sora looked concerned, and Megumi froze for a moment.  
“Do I really have to keep up this act? It’s gonna be a long day…I’m sorry Sora, I’ve just got a lot on my mind haha” she put on a big smile, and rubbed the back of her head. Sora still looked at her strangely.  
“O-okay….i guess. I hope it works out, whatever it is….seriously though….what is it? One minute she’s a blushing girl, then the next she’s giving me the cold shoulder and then back to friendly again. Is she prone to mood swings or something? That would certainly explain a lot...then again maybe I’m screwing up this whole socializing thing.” Sora laughed nervously as Megumi forced a smile.  
“Oh, don’t worry Sora….i think it will work out perfectly. Hehehe,” she laughed hard, reveling in the plan she had concocted. The two walked in silence for the last few minutes of the trip. Finally they arrived at a small brownstone building. It had a few windows with articulate lettering and characters in gold.  
“Hmn….cafe hasegawa? This the place?” Sora was smiling, but Megumi seemed distracted.  
“Yep…this is it.” Without another word, Megumi walked inside. Sora was about to ask her, but quickly realized that he should follow. A stiff breeze of air conditioning hit his face on the way in; he took a deep breath of the cool air, letting it soothe him. It was certainly in stark contrast to the muggy outside air sotoba seemed to always have. He stretched his arms out and yawned again, then walked over to Megumi, who was conversing with the waiter.  
“Nice to see you again miss, did you forget something erlie-“Megumi shushed him before he could finish. She asked for the same table she had before, Natsuno was still sitting in the same spot with an empty plate and a bored expression on his face. As Sora walked up behind her he noticed the purple haired teen in the table right beside him…. As soon as he caught sight…he froze, his blood turned to ice, and his eyes were wide with shock.  
“N-Natsuno! Of all the people we could have run into…it had to be him…..the ONE person I hoped I’d never have to see….Hey Megumi… Is it okay if we sit somewhere else?” Sora was holding onto the chair handle, his hands were shaking and he was in a cold sweat, it was so powerful that even the chair was jiggling, but Megumi could barely suppress glaring at him. She went back into her act, with a blush and a smile, she tried talking sweetly to Sora.  
“awww…..please? This is my favorite table.” Natsuno overheard and couldn’t help but click his tongue at her.  
“Great….she’s back…..i wonder who that guy is? I bet she’s trying to make me jealous or something.” Natsuno and Sora exchanged a quick glance, but as soon as their eyes met, both darted away. Sora, still shaking, nervously pulled up his chair and sat down. He opened a menu and tried his best to read it, making absolutely sure he was looking away from Natsuno. Nervously he started to scratch his arm, he bit his thumbnail.  
“s-say…m-Megumi…..wh-what is this item here?” he could hardly form words through the shaking. He didn’t quite know how he felt about Natsuno, on one hand his desire for revenge what somewhat justified…on the other, he caused that suffering in the first place because he was an insufferable prick to most people. And of course he was one of the masterminds in the extermination of the shiki, either way Sora knew that Natsuno was the last person he wanted to meet. Especially since he was so mean to Megumi, even if it was her own fault.  
“What the hell is wrong with him?! He keeps stealing glances at Yuuki…and it looks like he’s more terrified than he’s ever been…those are cheese croissants, Sora…” Megumi took his menu and put a finger next to what he was requesting.  
“Those sound good,” Sora still kept himself tucked under the menu, only occasionally peeking around at Natsuno.  
“So Yuuki! This is my date today….his name is Sora what do you think of hi-“ before she could finish another word, Sora slammed his foot down onto hers “oww! What the hell?! They need to adjust the table stilts! One slammed down right on my foot.” Sora was still shivering, even more so when he realized what he had done without thinking. When Natsuno noticed what Sora had done, he couldn’t help but let out a suppressed giggle.  
“Please don’t drag me into this Megumi! So Megumi, what do you usually order here?” Sora was trying to overcome his aversion to Natsuno, and all that he could think to do was talk to Megumi.  
“Alright…Yuuki is in full view; it’s time to pretend I like this guy.” Megumi began speaking in that sugary sweet way. It seemed to grate Natsuno’s ears, but Sora was calmed, at least a little, because of it. “well, I order lots of things here,” She stole a glance at Natsuno”…but I think I like their pasta the most.” Natsuno scowled. The three remained like that for the next few minutes, Sora would ask Megumi questions, she would in turn respond with whatever answer she thought Natsuno would like best. When she talked to Sora, it was about subjects she knew Natsuno enjoyed. For a while, Sora was none the wiser. But after about fifteen minutes, Sora started to realize what was going on. It would have hurt his feelings more than it did, but he heard footsteps approaching his area, the shoes made a slight squeak on the ceramic flooring. A waiter gave his usual greeting and the man approached. Sora saw Tohru over in the distance, and instantly his whole demeanor changed.  
“Hey Natsuno!” Tohru was running to his table, a big goofy smile was plastered all over his face as he waved to him. Sora couldn’t help but look back when he heard the familiar voice. Megumi on the other hand, started to act like Sora had when he saw natsuno. Head buried in her menu, and shaking so hard that it jiggled the table…the only difference was that she was shaking with anger, not shock.  
‘you’re late,” Natsuno said bitterly as he directed Tohru to look at Megumi. The two exchanged a knowing look and Tohru sat down across from him. Sora, who was growing more bold, put down the menu.  
“Sorry, sorry. I got caught up with a few errands, Tohru said, acting overly apologetic, even with a big smile.  
“Whatever….do you have those notes I needed?” the two began their usual banter while Sora listened in with interest.  
“Oh yeah... Megumi hates Tohru...so are you sure the pasta is good?” Megumi barely responded, it was just a small gesture of approval, a slight wave of her hand. She was much too livid to speak. Though Sora never stopped trying  
“great…..of all the people I could have run into it had to be him….the ONE person I hoped I’d never have to see…..S-Sora….let’s sit somewhere else.” She said meekly. Sora raised an eyebrow..  
“But you said this was your favorite seat…Tohru really bothers her I guess….come on, you’ll be alright.” She pulled the menu down from her face and gave Sora a dreadful look.  
‘fine.” She said coldly. Sora was growing frightened as she spoke in that dreadful tone of voice.  
“Sora? Hey! It’s me Tohru! Remember? From a few days ago? I thought you looked familiar, but I couldn’t be sure till now,” when Tohru heard Sora talking with Megumi he realized who the young man was. Without thinking, Sora jumped right into a conversation with him.  
“Hi! How’ve you been? When are we gonna get together man?! Its soooo boring at the temple, I’ve got nothing to do all day. You should drop by more often!” Sora and Tohru were only chatting in a politely friendly manner but Natsuno’s blood started to boil…..he unconsciously broke one of the chopstics he was holding between two fingers. Megumi was nearly twice as angry, gritting her teeth behind the cover of the menu. She scratched the table so hard it left claw marks, along with an ear piercing screech.  
“So….you two know each other?” Tohru and Sora exchanged surprised glances when Natsuno spoke to them.  
‘Yeah…I live at the temple with Seshin, Tohru and his family were there the other day for an offering…my name is Sora by the way…I’m sorry I didn’t say anything when you looked at me earlier…maybe I can try to get on his good side, that’s gotta be a better alternative to getting into a fight with him” Sora tried to laugh himself off.  
“Oh…so you’re the moron who jumped off of the roof in the old abandoned church…that was pretty stupid of you.” Natsuno scoffed at Sora, who twitched an eye when Natsuno said those harsh words.  
“Or I could strangle him with my bare hands…n-no…..that was an accident. I just slipped and fell…you know…you should really be careful how you talk to people…..some might take it the wrong way.” Sora was trying his best to hold back his anger as he laughed nervously. He was never one to snap at people, in fact the emotions would usually build.  
“That’s my Natsuno for you, he doesn’t mean harm, but when he speaks sometimes people take it the wrong way. Isn’t that right buddy?” Tohru gave a friendly poke to Natsuno.  
“Be quiet….” Natsuno closed his eyes and turned his head away from Tohru.  
“Oh….that makes sense…I have a similar problem. Haha.” Sora tried as hard as he could to salvage what few points he could with Natsuno, though every action weighed heavily on his pride.  
“Really? You seem friendly enough to me.” Tohru and Sora shared a laugh and started to talk of other things, unaware of the two across from them, but with every word the two spoke to each other, Natsuno and Megumi grew angrier, occasionally lowering their menu’s to glare at their respective opposites.  
“That guy really bothers me for some reason…..” Tohru noticed Natsuno giving Sora an aggressive stare. Though Sora himself was oblivious to it.  
‘What’s wrong buddy? Jealous I’m not paying attention? You seem angry,” Natsuno looked up at Tohru in surprise.  
‘N-No. Why would I be? I just have a lot on my mind.” Megumi turned to Natsuno with concern in her eyes.  
“aww, I'm sorry Yuuki, is there anything I can do to help?” Natsuno blew her off without effort, never missing a beat from the original dialogue with Tohru. Sora noticed.  
“Hey…I think she said something to you …” Sora looked at Natsuno defiantly. He only returned with scorn, the stare he gave Sora sent chills down his spine. Within a moment, Megumi got up from the table without a word. In one fluid motion she grabbed her items and stormed out of the door. “Wait Megumi!” he turned to Tohru and gave a quick apology ‘you two should come by the temple and visit sometime… I better go see what’s wrong with her” Sora pushed through the tables quickly and saw Megumi sitting outside of the restaurant, face buried In her hands. Sora walked up to her and knelt down.  
“Hey Megumi….what’s wrong?” Sora could see she was red in the face. He tried to grab her shoulder in a friendly way, but she swatted at his hand.  
“Just forget it...” she said bitterly.  
“Did I do something? Was it something I said? …is it because Natsuno kept ignoring you even though I was there?” Sora could feel a knot forming in his stomach. He turned his head in the other direction.  
“Nothing ever works out for me…so like I said…..just forget it…” she was growing angry with him.  
“Oh….you’re talking about that guy with the purple hair… that’s why you were using me, right?” Megumi looked at him with defeated surprise.  
“When did you figure it out?!” her face was red, and Sora was growing more hurt by the second.  
“about fifteen minutes after we sat down….but Tohru distracted me a little bit, so I never brought it up.” She snorted.  
“You knew….but why did you stay…if I were you I would have thrown a drink in my face and left.” Sora sighed.  
“I thought…..maybe if I tried hard anyway, you might have fun…or something might work out. I know it was a naïve hope….but still….it was worth a shot.” Megumi looked slightly hurt herself…but only for a brief second.  
“That was pretty naïve….whatever I guess.” Sora turned away from her.  
“Look…I better go, I’ve gotta pick up my meds…..just forget today happened, alright.” Sora took a deep breath as he was about to walk away, a lonely sadness started to eat away at him.  
‘Wait. Don’t you have trouble reading Japanese? What if you get the wrong pills?” a curious look sprung up on her face. Her cheeks were still a bit red from her earlier bout of unpleasant feelings.  
“Look…don’t worry about me…not that you would anyway…I’ll be fine.” Megumi stammered for a second as she stood up.  
‘I should probably go with you, wouldn’t want you getting the wrong pills…Sora might keep the villagers off me, they all think he’s insane after all..” She laughed nervously.  
“You just want to go with me so the villagers won’t make fun of you on your way home…you don’t care what happens to me…” Sora turned to her and said that sternly. Megumi looked shocked when Sora called her out.  
“How the hell did he figure me out again?! Okay…so what? You need me anyway don’t you?” she said hesitantly.  
“fine..whatever…” the two walked in silence as they made their way to the clinic, Sora led the way begrudgingly. He liked Megumi to be sure... but even he had his limits. After what seemed like hours of awkward silence the duo approached the clinic.  
‘Let’s get this over with….then I can walk you home and forget about this whole experience.” Megumi had the slightest ping of guilt run through her, though it was drowned out by boredom almost instantly, and she resumed her normal frame of mind. Sora gave a defeated yawn as he entered the clinic, Megumi following closely behind. He walked up to the nurse working the front desk.  
“I think this one is named Yasuyo” Sora was looking at a heavy set woman in her late 40’s with deep red lipstick and a nurses gown. “Hello, my name is Muroi Sora. I’m here to pick up a refill on my antibiotics.”  
“Ah yes. The doctor should be in shortly. Ehy don’t you two take a seat..” after a few moments Ozaki walked out into the clinic waiting room carrying a mug of tea, the stench of tobacco heavy in the air around him. A short older woman with black hair that was shaped like a flat disc was following shortly behind him.  
“Honestly Toshio, you need to expand the clinic, spread the Ozaki name over all japan. At the very least, you should produce an heir with kyoko.” Ozaki had a bored look on his face, the same one Megumi had when Sora was trying to talk to her on their way to the café.  
‘Yeah mom…. I’ll get right on it.” Ozaki looked at Sora and gave him a quick smile.  
“Oh great….madam Ozaki……fan-fucking-tastic…as if my day wasn’t going terribly already…hey doc, how’ve ya been.” Madam Ozaki cut around the doctor and gave Sora a stern look, which he met in turn with a snide stare.  
“THIS ONE?! This is that delinquent who destroyed the abandoned temple! Why on earth would you give him medicine? He brought any injury on himself, let him suffer the consequences!” Sora clicked his tongue at her.  
“For the record that was an accident.” Sora said with reserved politeness, hiding the irritation that was boiling just underneath his façade.  
“hmp! A likely story…. You might be able to fool my son, and that little whore you’re with, but I will not be so easily moved.” Megumi was about to snap at madam Ozaki, but Sora stood up before she could get the chance. Sora towered over the old woman, with an intimidating stare, and a red sheen in his field of vision.  
“What’s your problem?” he said angrily. With Ozaki and Megumi looking on with interest.  
“How dare you talk to me like that!? I am the head of the prestigious Ozaki family! You will show me respect.” Sora’s lips curled into a snarl, with teeth bared he let out a firery retort.  
“You will kiss my ass, you vile old crone!” Ozaki spat his tea all over the floor, barely able to suppress hysterical laughter. Megumi however was not as reserved, letting out a bout of giggling so hard it brought tears to her eyes. Even a few of the clinic nurses were laughing at the vile old woman. Madam Ozaki looked on in shocked anger as Sora continued to tell her off. “Listen, I have had a pretty terrible day so far, I don’t need some pompous holier than thou old woman giving me crap on top of it. You have nothing better to do than bitch and moan and make people feel bad so why don’t you just do the world a favor and die already!” she could not believe what she was hearing. Madam Ozaki raised a hand and was inches away from smacking Sora in the face. But right when she was about to make contact, doctor Ozaki grabbed her hand.  
“Now mom, he’s not from this village, so he doesn’t understand our customs, and he does have a point. You should be nicer to people, even if they are beneath you. Now, both of you apologize.” Sora looked at Ozaki defiantly.  
“If you expect me to apologize to her, then she had better apologize to Megumi first.” Ozaki smiled when Sora suggested it, but madam Ozaki only looked with horror. Megumi blushed a little bit  
“I have nothing to apologize to that trollop about.” Ozaki looked at her sternly. But she simply walked away.  
“Ugh…I’m sorry about that you two…she can be quite a handful…..anyway, Yasuyo has your meds on the table, just fill out the form. Take two per day.” Sora and Megumi walked up towards the table, big grins on both of their faces, he asked Megumi a few basic questions before they finished the form. Then Sora apologized to Ozaki for the trouble he had caused.  
“No worries, I understand how she can be…in fact. You are one of the only people I’ve seen stand up to her, so I should commend you for that at least.” Ozaki sparked a cigarette up.  
“To be honest…it’s pretty fun knocking people down a peg, so anytime.” Sora gave the doctor a confident laugh as the two walked out of the clinic. They started walking and as soon as they were out of eashot Megumi spoke up.  
“That was awesome! You totally had that old hag crapping in her pants! Though I never expected you to defend my honor like that.” Megumi blushed as she faced Sora; she wasn’t faking it this time. Sora blushed back.  
“Aww, it was nothing.” Sora said as h flexed one of his arm muscles.  
“No that was totally hilarious! Will you do that to every villager who makes fun of me?” she asked that genuinely, but Sora thought she was joking.  
“We’ll see. My reputation is terrible enough as it is….and I don’t think this raised my standing much.” Megumi walked a bit closer to him. With a serious stare she spoke softly to him.  
“Listen...I’m sorry about today…I don’t know why I thought that plan was a good idea…” Sora was touched, he never expected any kind words from Megumi.  
“it’s alright. Hey, now that you know I’ll explode on any villager at a moment’s notice, we should hang out for real.” Sora meant that in a joking manner, but Megumi gave him a friendly smile.  
“maybe….we’ll see” in an instant she peeled away from him and started running home, her cheeks were red, and her heart was beating out of her chest. Sora was sitting in the backround, scratching his head in confusion. “Sora…you really are an interesting guy…….no! Bad thoughts, Megumi! You could never betray Yuuki!”  
Sora sighed as Megumi slowly disappeared from view. “Why did she just run away like that? I don’t understand the people here at all….well…I better head to the library…I need to do some research if I plan to prevent this tragedy….after all, I’m only one human against a horde of vampires, I should at least try not to get myself killed.”


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora and natsuno butt heads, and his plan for kanemasa comes to fruition

Sora scratched his head as he tried to make sense of the events that had recently transpired.. “ _Megumi….she’s so flighty, one minute she’s using me, the next moment we’re on friendly terms…though I don’t know if I can outcompete Natsuno….not that I won’t try…and I still have the shiki to worry about, I can’t keep dicking around like this., Natsuno and Ozaki are still very much a problem….as is Sunako…hopefully my plan works, maybe I won’t have to hurt anyone…I don’t know if I could live with myself if I did… even in the best of circumstances.”_ Sora continued thinking as he made his way into the library, the air was stuffy and he could smell something familiar, it was like the smell of a book fresh from the press, or a newly opened pack of trading cards. He cut around the tables and made a beeline for the front desk. “Yo, Ossan? Will you help me find the books I need?” the male librarian turned around.

“Why certainly!” Sora noticed something off about the man, he seemed all too friendly, he even put a hand on Sora’s shoulder as the two walked the aisles and bookshelves. Sora would try to edge away on occasion, though the man would always seem to get closer to him. He asked a lot of questions to Sora, but Sora would never give him much more than a noncommittal or half assed answer. His creepometer was off the charts.

“ _this is the guy who turns Masao….and if I recall…..he’s a pedophile or something like that…I think Sunako punished him and left him to rot out in the sun because he would murder children without turning them, just for his sick kicks…I think I could take him if he tries anything….but I don’t think he goes over the edge until he turns…still, better safe than sorry.”_ Sora reached in his left pocket and put his hand on a small folding knife. He bit his lower lip as his flight or fight response was building. ”so yeah…I was wondering if this library has any books on architecture…or demolition, I would prefer the latter especially.” Sora shuddered as the man moved his hand across his arm, he tightened the grip on his folding knife. ” _umm…I need an adult?”_ he thought to himself.

“Why of course! They are over here,” he pointed to a shelve with several books on it, Sora had trouble reading some of the more complex titles, but from the cover art he could see they had things like power machinery and explosives. “This one especially, “demolishing large buildings”. Do you like architecture?”

“Not particularly….” Sora said blandly. A cold chill crept up his spine as he grimaced. “although…this one is perfect, can I check it out?”

“sure!” he said excitedly” why not stay here a while and read it? The day is hot. If you’d like I can bring you some tea.” He smiled from ear to ear.

“ _FUCK THAT SHIT! You’d probably drug me…!_ No…..no, I’m in a hurry. Can I just get the book and go?” the man looked disappointed but checked Sora out in a professional manner. Sora nearly ran out of the library. As he was panting outside he started thinkinga gain. “ _that was THE single creepiest experience I’ve ever had! Its unsettling to think I’m attractive to old perves… i think I'm gonna go back to the temple and cry myself to sleep”_  Sora held his head low, trying to make it to the temple as fast as he could, reeling from the awkward experience he just had. He felt some modicum of security as he walked into the temple doors. Seshin’s mother greeted him warmly as he walked by.

“Sora, how was your day?” he smiled tepidly and walked up to her.

well…..its complicated…haha” she handed him a cup of tea. ‘thanks, I need it”

“whats wrong?” she looked concerned.

“the librarian…he’s…..wierd…” he said reservedly.

‘I have heard things…but he’s probably just misunderstood, you should really give people more of a chance before you jump to conclusions.” She laughed.

“yeah, I suppose… _you really don’t know what he’s capable of I guess…but I can’t blame you…._ well, I better get back to Seshin.”

“actually you have a visitor.’ Sora turned curiously.

“I’m a popular guy! Who is it?” Sora smiled smugly to himself.

“Two people actually, they’re in your room.” Sora looked at her even more strangely. He raised an eyebrow.

“You let them in my room without me?!…. _my sixth sense is tingling……someone is rummaging through my porn…”_ Sora’s ears pricked as his eyes darted in his room’s direction. He hastily said goodbye as he burst into the door! “ive got you now!” Sora burst into a scene of calm boredom. Two teenagers sitting in his room, one napping, the other reading a comic book. Soras eye twitched and his mouth was agape. He had thought for sure that the two in his room would be rummaging through all of his stuff.

‘Oh hey! You’re home! We just wanted to drop by and apologize about the awkward situation we put you in at the café” Sora flicked the light on and saw Tohru and Natsuno sitting adjacent to the wall. Natsuno was laying on his futon….. Tohru looked over to Natsuno “isn’t that right?” he said in a playfully stern voice.

“….whatever…” …Natsuno said boredly. Sora clenched a fist behind his back. But smiled reservedly at the two.

“so….did your date go well? I bet you get a lot of flak for being a gay couple in such a small town” Sora asked politely.

“after Megumi left it went fine,” Natsuno said, unknowingly genuinely. But Tohru looked at them both strangely. Sora perked up for a second

“ _he didn’t deny it!!!!! I always wondered what would happen if I pushed that button”_ Sora laughed.

“What are you talking about haha! I just needed to borrow some homework,” Tohru laughed boisterously at Sora’s  comment “besides, i fancy the clinic nurse.” Sora threw up in his mouth a little. And looked at Tohru with disgust.

“what the hell man? She’s **heinous….** And that gaudy lipstick…..besides she’s like forty.” Tohru started laughing hysterically.  However Natsuno turned away and clenched a fist.

“No, not yasuyo! God no! I'm talking about Ritsuko, the young one with green hair,” Natsuno bit his lower lip when Tohru mentioned her.

“ _oh yeah….why did I think anything different, of course it would be Ritsuko, today has justbeen too tiring for me…._ gee you really had me scared for a moment!”  Natsuno remained silent.

“what about you Sora….you seem to like shimizu, she’s pretty scary herself…..arent you mad she was using you?”

“How did you know that?” Sora said, curiosity plastered across his face.

“She and Natsuno…..have…a ….strained relationship.” Natsuno chimed into their conversation after that.

“if you call her one way love and my hatred for her…strained…..then yeah, safe to say we aren’t friends.” Sora smiled politely at him, but in his mind he secretly wanted to thrash him against the wall.

“What has she ever done to you? she doesn’t seem like the type who would do much more than follow you around…maybe spy on you…. _i HAVE  to hear his response to that”_ Natsuno looked at Sora, jaw agape, and eyes wide in shock.

“h-how did you know that? Did she tell you?” even Tohru looked suprized when Natsuno said that.

“you never told me she was spying on you, Natsuno.” Tohru looked concerned for his friend.

“don’t  worry about it, it doesn’t matter anyway….but still how did **you** know. Ive only just met you...”

“I promise you, it was just a lucky guess...but like I said, why would that even be a problem, a girl who looks like her, throwing herself at you? seems like most guys fantasies.” Natsuno glared at Sora.

“You don’t understand. You never could. Besides…… why would I entertain her even if I wanted too, I’m getting out of this village as soon as I can, so the fewer friends the better…” he spoke angrily to Sora, and each word the two exchanged onle deepened their resentment towards eachother.

“if you are leaving anyway then why the hell would it bother you that some girl is spying on you,. you say you don’t care about these people…..thats’ a lie. And we both know it.” Natsunp clenched a fist and raised his voice.

“I DON”T care! Why would i?” he slammed a fist into Sora’s wall, Sora raised his voice even louder than Natsuno.

“YOU OBVIOSLY DO!  Otherwise Megumi’s spying wouldn’t bother you. And because I can get under your skin just by calling you out on it, if you don’t care, then you wouldn’t even be getting angry! Have you even told her to sod off?” Sora yelled at Natsuno. He just responded coldly.

“no.” said indignantly. “I’d rather not waste my breath on her” Sora bit the bottom of his lip, a small trickle of blood started to drip down.

“WELL THEN THIS IS YOUR FAULT!!! If you want her to fuck off then tell her so! Don’t just sit on your ass like a bitch and do nothing! If you don’t confirm or deny someone then they hold out hope, let it fester long enough then it turns dark, that just the way humans are! If you have such a big problem with her, tell her! “

“SHUT UP! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ANYTHING!” natsuno shouted back at him.

“I know plenty!” the two stood up and nearly came to blows, but Tohru rushed in between them as they raised fists.

“STOP THIS! What good will fighting do either of you?” the two were taken aback and Sora tried calming down…..he took a deep breath and sat down, Natsuno was still red in the face and Tohru felt that he needed to hold him back so he remained inbetween the two

“sorry…..lost my temper for a second…”the red began to fade from Natsuno’s face as well.

“whatever.” He said coldly as he stormed out of the room.

“I’m sorry this got out of hand…. Natsuno really isn’t such a bad guy once you get to know him.”

“ _i know what he’s gonna do if the shiki succeed in turning you so I wouldn’t be so confident about that…..i hope it doesn’t come to blood…..i hate Natsuno for sure, but I don’t want to kill him…..or Ozaki….._ He seems stressed….maybe I went too far myself.” Sora said, with faux guilt.

“No, no, you’re fine. A friend of mine named Masao always gets into fights with him. Hell, he hates Natsuno so much that he won’t even hang out with me when he’s around.” Sora laughed. He knew full well about Masao’s comical rants.

“jeeze, that’s petty. I think liking natsuno would be hard, but he’s tolerable… _barely…_ are you sure you two aren’t gay for each other? He seemed to get jealous when you mentioned Ritsuko,” Tohru and Sora shered a laugh.

“That’s just the way he is….look Sora, please give him a chance. I wouldn’t want to miss out on a new friend because they don’t like mine.” Sora gave Tohru a pat on the shoulder.

“don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on avoiding Natsuno…I just think he’s a prick, then again…so am I, so maybe we might get along after all…. _keep your enemies close….._ anyway….tell him I said I’m sorry alright? I wouldn’t want to make things any worse than they already are. Or to let things rot like this…..”

‘sure, I’ll tell him…by the way… you have some interesting subject material under your mattress!” Sora threw a book at Tohru as he ran out of the door.

A few hours later

The night was pitch black, and Sora was wide awake. He had been studying the books he had received from the library ever since his company left him. With what little knowledge he could glean, he set off into the night.  He rounded a corner in the hall connecting his room, and made his way for the tool shed. There all of the temples iron tools sat perched and organized into neat racks, the moonlight glinting off of the polished steel surfaces. Silently he tiptoed to each rack and pulled what he needed, first, a wood splitting axe, then a five kilogram sledge, Sora strained himself to lift it, but put both in a burlap sack on his back. As he crept out of the temple gates he hugged the treeline as he made way to kanemasa, dodging any villagers and wild animals that got too close. A wild dog got too close to Sora about halfway on the trip, Sora could feel  the malice in its eyes as the creature growled at him, he slid the axe into his hand, and hit the dog hard with the blunt end, sending it scurrying back into the woods, wimperimng in pain.

“ _Sorry about that, I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly, but I can’t be reviled any more than I already am by the villagers, not that they won’t blame me for this anyway….but I’ve made my decision……I won’t kill anyone.”_ Sora gripped his fist in determination, he wanted to remain a pacifist, or at the very least, he didn’t want to hurt anyone permanently, though sometimes fighting was the only answer…and Sora knew it. He reluctantly rounded the hill to the mansion. He walked up to its large gates. He gave the area a thourgough glance over, and walked the perimeter of the property, after several minutes he retunred to the same place h e started in. “no cameras….i guess I'm good to go” Sora tested the lock on the gate. No luck. Quickly he removed the bolt cutters from his pack and placed them on the thick chain. He clamped hard on it “gahh! Damn, this is harder than it looks in the movies!” he said aloud. He twisted and turned the tools until he made a thin slice in the chain. After much effort with little result, he decided to take out the sledgehammer. With a strained swing the smashed into the tops of the cutters, severing the large deadbolt on the gate. “whew!” he placed both back into his pack and massaged his sore arms.

He took a deep breath and made his way into the larger mansion past the gate, those doors were not locked, and Sora was surprised when he entered easily. He took out the axe  and decided to pick a target to swing into first….he eyed a loadbearing column in the back of the foyer “perfect!” he laughed to himself. With a running charge he swung the tool as hard as he could into the wooden beam,  he had to let go of the tool as the shock from the blow hurt his hands, wood chips flew all around the area and Sora had to close his eyes as they splintered about. He gave it several more harsh swings but to no effect. He started to grow angry. And every slash, and every hammer blow to the mansion and its area grew more and more erratic, finally he slammed the hammer as hard as he could into the broken pillar, sending it splintering in half. He could hear creaks in the wall, and saw stone crack as the weight of the upper floors shifted.  He was seeing red, and instead of opting for the other columns, he went for the windows instead, smashing every one he could find and destroying as much furniture as possible, snuffing out every possible piece of shelter he  could forsee the shiki using.

“ _if they can’t inhabit it, maybe they’ll move on….it will at least delay them until I can think of a better plan,”_ Sora had been wrecking the place for what seemed like hours until he was running on empty energy reserves, each swing and motion losing power. Sora was panting heavily, taking staggered uncoordinated steps in every direction, he panned around the room looking and the wreckage he had caused, every window he could find was smashed, every piece of decoration and furniture utterly destroyed. “ _I wish the temple had lighter fluid…..i wanted to burn this place out of existence…but this will have to do…..and I can’t go on anymore….i’m pretty sure its good enough…..but I can’t help feeling like I’m forgetting something, I guess it doesn’t matter.”_ Sora walked and panted on his way out of the mansion and down the path to the temple, cleaning the prints off of the tools he used with the bottom of the black hoodie he was wearing. As he was nearly halfway back to the path of the temple, he noticed scurrying in the bushes nearby.

“hmm, _it’d be best if I kept pushing on”_  he was about to turn his head back to his own destination, when he noticed a flash of bright pink hair. “ _Megumi?”_ sora made a beeline to the noise and saw her  several yards ahead, he decided to follow her. He kept low, and out of sight, always remaining as far as he could, but still able to see the whites in her eyes. After a few minutes of hushed silence they came to a house. Megumi perched herself behind the bush and began to peer into the open window.

“ _I wonder if Yuuki is here tonight…..this usually gives me a fun feeling…..but ever since today with that stuff at the café, I just feel weird about Natsuno….and then there is Sora…..he’s such a mystery, ….no I can’t think like that…..Yuuki is my one and only.”_ She reassured her resolve as she sat perched in the bushes. Sora waited behind her until Natsuno closed his window. Then crept closer.

“ _hmm…this could be useful.”_ Quickly he extended his arm and palmed her back “gotcha!” he whispered. Megumi nearly jumped ten feel in the air, quickly she turned around and threw a hard punch, connecting squarely with Sora’s nose. “gahh! What the hell man?” he said as he nearly threw a punch back in retaliation, only holding himself back when he remembered it was Megumi.

“I should ask you the same question creep!...Sora? what the hell are you doing here?!” her face turned flush red when she realized Sora had seen what she was doing.

“I saw you running in the woods so I decided to follow you, thought it might be fun.” He said, holding his throbbing nose, his voice sounded muffled.

“Please don’t tell anyone!” Sora felt pity for the poor girl for just a moment, but then realized that he could make good use of her.

“hmm” he said mockingly. “Well that all depends,” a devilish smile crept across his face.

“Depends on what?” she said meekly, assuming Sora wanted to blackmail her into doing something **_suggestive_**.

“I need you to provide an alibi for me,” his smile turned comical, Megumi sighed with relief as the tension left the atmosphere, but then she decided to indulged her curiosity.

“What? Why?...what did you do?” she said sternly as Sora took a deep breath.

“Don’t worry about it…..if anyone asks, say you were with me tonight, helping me study or something like that.” She gave him a strange look.

‘uhh okay?” Sora gave her a harsh glare.

‘No matter what you hear, I want you to stick to that story……if you say anything to the contrary I will out you faster than a speeding bullet. Get me?” she took a hesitant step back.

“I..i guess…..you’re scaring me Sora.” She said with pleading eyes.

“Sorry….a lot has happened tonight. I don’t really feel like myself. You might not even need to say anything at all……just be prepared.” Sora was about to turn away when a figure walked out from the other side of the forest.

“Megumi….you need to stop spying on me!” Sora locked eyes with the teenager. Both of their jaws dropped.

“What are you doing here?” Natsuno and Sora said at the same time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora might be in hot water for destroying the kanemasa mansion, one of megumi's few cares in the village, will she hold up his alibi, or let him sink

Natsuno clenched a tight fist. He could still hear Tohru talking with Sora from outside of the room. With each passing second he could feel a quiet anger bubbling inside of himself.

“ _What’s his problem anyway…..telling me how I should handle things….its not like he has any idea what I’m going through”_ Natsuno slammed his fist into the wall, a scowl began to form on his face. He waited in that spot, leaning against the buildings frame, for a few more moments. Finally Tohru emerged, the same bright smile permanently affixed to his face. Natsuno envied his happiness, he often wished he could feel the same way, but whenever he tried, he could never muster up the ability.

“Hey buddy!” Tohru said as he jokingly put his arm around Natsuno’s shoulder. Natsuno grimaced and backed away.

“….You know I don’t like physical affection” he said harshly. It hurt Tohru’s feelings slightly, and his smile relaxed.

“Sorry, sorry!” Tohru made an excessively playful bowing gesture with his hands.

“Whatever….so…did you have fun with him?” Natsuno looked away meekly. Tohru looked at Natsuno curiously.

“Fun? You make it sound like I’m cheating on you, hahaha!” Natsuno made a reserved glance in Tohru’s direction.

“….That guy is an ass…..trying to tell me what I should do……like HE knows anything about it.” He said with pleading eyes. Tohru’s stare softened.

“Don’t worry about it, he seems okay. And considering what you said about his love interest, I can understand why he snapped like that.” Tohru smiled warmly at him. “You know…he told me to give you an apology at the last minute. He really seemed to mean it.”

“He can keep it…” Natsuno said those final parting words as he walked out of the temple alone.

“Wait up Natsuno! Natsuno?” Tohru sighed, defeated and bored, he made his own way home.

 

Natsuno lay on his bed. The room swirled in his drowsy stupor. He pulled the wrinkled white blanket up over himself, and let out a deep sigh as the cloth draped over his face.

“ _She’s probably out there right now…who know what she’s thinking…why can’t she just leave…I haven’t given her any indication I’d return her feelings, I’ve never so much as looked at her.”_ Sora’s harsh words echoed in his head.

” _If you don’t confirm or deny someone then they hold out hope…..let it fester for too long and it turns dark…that’s just the way people are.”_ Natsuno scoffed at the memory, determined to defy the information no matter how accurate it might have been.  Though try as he might, he couldn’t get those words out of his head.

“ _Turns dark……_ What is that even supposed to mean? Will Megumi kidnap me? Kill the people close to me out of jealousy…? I wouldn’t put it past her to do something like that. But I wouldn’t just sit there and let it happen.” Natsuno laughed quietly. He remembered that he needed to shut his window, “dark….hah, what do you know, Sora.” He sighed as he pulled the blanked off of himself. He walked over to the small window just beyond his desk, his toes clicked on the hardwood floor that lined his room. He was about to shut the window when he noticed the bushes moving and jerking.

“ _great….she IS here….maybe I should say something…if I tell her off then she’ll probably run into Sora’s arms, spinning some lie about me or something like that.”_

 _“_ Oh, Sora! Natsuno was so mean to me! Save me my prince!” Natsuno could imagine her crocodile tears and the other teen went into protection mode.

 Natsuno sneered. “ _she’s got him so wrapped around her finger that he’d probably believe her too, dumbass….still…..if it gets Megumi off of my back then its worth a fight….god, it burns me up having to take his advice.”_ Natsuno stared out of the window for a few more moments, tryig to reach a final decision. Suddenly he heard a quiet scream, like someone was in pain.

“Did she cut herself on a thorn? I’d better go now before she hurts herself anymore, just more lies she can tell about me.” Natsuno mustered every ounce of courage that he had and slowly walked out of his room. The old door creaked as he gently nudged it and slipped out into the hallway, careful not to wake his parents. He was walking on eggshells, each step more stealthily taken than the last. He held his breath as he edged past his parents room and out into his front yard. The night was pitch black, and he could feel a moist warm breeze blow past. It was quiet. The only sounds around him were the sounds of rickets and the other wildlife in sotoba. He took the night air in for a moment, listening to a wild dog howl in the distance. Another deep breath to raise his confidence and he set out to the side of his house.

In the distance he could make out two figures, arguing with each other and in defensive stances. But paid it no mind. With one final burst of courage he leapt out from behind the bush.

“Megumi! You need to stop spying on me!” Natsuno and Sora locked eyes as Megumi looked on in shocked horror.

“What are you doing here?!” both said unanimously. All three stood in silence for a moment before Natsuno started to speak up.

“Why the hell are you here Sora?” Sora took a defensive stance and bickered back.

“Hey I just followed her! Don’t blame this on me!”

“Quiet, your voice is too loud!”

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

“Do you want to wake the whole neighborhood?”

“I might just be tempted if you don’t watch the way you talk to me!”

“The way I talk to YOU?!?! You’re the one who is spying on me!”

“No I’m not! I just followed Megumi.” Sora turned to Megumi and looked at her harshly “we were studying together and she got bored and ran off….. ** _isn’t that right, Megumi?”_**  Sora said through gritted teeth as he turned her direction. Megumi couldn’t phantom any response, but a few tears dripped down her face. In the next instant she ran off, barreling down the path trying to cover her sobs.

“Wait Megumi! Great, look what you did now Natsuno.”

“What I did? She was spying on me….didn’t you just tell me to tell her off anyway?”

“I didn’t want you to make her run away! I needed her to listen to me for a minute….”

“Why do you even put up with her?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know exactly what I mean! You lilke shimizu!”

“No I don’t…..” Sora said, his face flush red

“I can see it all over your face……honestly I don’t know what you see in that freak.”

“I have a fetish for pink hair.” Sora said overly sarcastically, a scowl plastered all over his face.

“Seriously?” Natsuno gave him an icy stare. But Sora sighed and began to tell Natsuno about his thoughts. He spoke in a more serious tone.

“Honestly? she’s the only person in this whole village I’ve met who has some kind of ambition, a dream beyond being just another sheep……she’s so misunderstood and everyone gives her a hard time like they do me, I’m sure everyone would blame me if something happens in this village, and everyone just assumes things about her too….i can’t stand these people really. She’s one of the only ones who doesn’t treat me like an alien…..and I guess Tohru too ….also…I really do have a fetish for pink hair.” Sora tried his best to explain his reasoning to Natsuno, even though he didn’t seem to be accepting of them.

“Fair enough…..just keep her away from me.” Natsuno continued staring through him.

“hey Natsuno…..i really am sorry about today, I didn’t mean to snap at you… _it won’t do me any good to have enemies…especially in the vulnerable position I just put myself in…..not to mention I just lost my leverage with Megumi……she loves that house, so I’m sure she’s going to out me in spite….”_ Sora could feel his stomach drop, he was utterly certain that he had ruined any chance he may have had with her. A depressive feeling burrowed its way into his mind “ _I wish I had just left well enough alone.”_ I'm heading out Natsuno….sorry about bothering you……one thing though…….something is going on in sotoba….something bad.”

“its fine I guess…..got Megumi to stop after all…. _what does he mean by “something bad”_ ” Without another word Natsuno slipped back into his house, leaving Sora to wander home, downtrodden and defeated.

Meanwhile

Megumi was terrified, so much had happened at once, and it was too much for her to handle. She wiped the tearstains away from her face and stopped running, she could still hear the two bickering clearly. She paused for a moment to listen. At first she heard Sora talk about how much he needed her to listen.

“ _hmp….all he cares about is me vouching for him…..but Yuuki, he would never betray me like that.”_

“What do you even see in her?!” Megumi heard Natsuno scream that at Sora. And turned her head.

“ _I wonder how he covers for himself.”_ Megumi inched her way back towards them, she had calmed down significantly and perched in a bush just outside their area. She could see their faces clearly, every expression as if she was talking to them herself.

“What do you mean by that?” she heard Sora retort to Natsuno, she clenched a fist in anger, thinking that Sora meant “how could I ever see anything in her.” By that statement.

“You know exactly what I mean! You like Shimizu!” she raised an eyebrow. She just had to hear his response.

“No I don’t….” she could see the red on his face, and she noticed how nervous he sounded.

“ _What?”_ she leaned in closer.

“Yes you do! I can see it all over your face! Honestly, I don’t know what you see in that freak.” When Megumi heard the end of that sentence tears started pouring out of her eyes.

“ _Yuuki? Why?”_ she could feel her stomach curl, and she felt like vomiting. Her whole world came crashing down in that moment, her heart utterly shattered. She stood there in silent agony as the two continued speaking.

“I have a fetish for pink hair” she felt like leaping out of the bushes and choking the man who had revealed her, and who seemed to be toying with her emotions. She clenched a fist and tried to choke back her anger.

“seriously?” she was about to turn away when Sora spoke again.

“Honestly? she’s the only person in this whole village I’ve met who has some kind of ambition, a dream beyond being just another sheep……she’s so misunderstood and everyone gives her a hard time like they do me, I’m sure everyone would blame me if something happens in this village, and everyone just assumes things about her too….i can’t stand these people really. She’s one of the only ones who doesn’t treat me like an alien…..and I guess Tohru too ….also…I really do have a fetish for pink hair.” Megumi sat in silence as the two finished talking…she couldn’t move a muscle if she wanted too. Her whole body felt electrified. She was in such a stupor that she didn’t even phase when Natsuno said to keep her away.

“ _what?......Sora really feels that way about me?”_ her mouth was agape, ad she couldn’t comprehend what was going around her. The pit in her stomach was filled, and that immense heartbreak was replaced by hesitation. She wanted to know more….she wanted to talk to Sora more and ask him what he truly meant. Natsuno seemed irreplaceable when she first started spying on him that night….but after she heard how he truly felt about her,  her opinion of him dropped. He suddenly wasn’t some unattainable fantasy…..he was just any other villager who mistreated her on a daily basis. Another face in the crowd. Sora didn’t exactly improve in her eyes. But she truly wanted to pick his brain…..her curiosity unfathomable.

“ _He’s such a sarcastic jerk!! I’m better than this! I’m above everyone else in this village…..why am I even thinking of him?”_ Megumi continued that conversation in her mind for the whole night. Unable to purge Sora from her mind.

The next morning

Just like Sora imagined, the whole of the village blamed him for the wreckage of the kanemasa mansion. Every place he walked they berated him. At the temple many came just to ask him questions and insult him.

“Why would you do such a thing?!”

“Young punks, always trying to get a rise!”

“If you were MY son, I would have whipped you red!” Sora glared at the old villager and swung at him with a rake. The man ran off with his tail between his legs. Just as Sora was about to give chase, Seshin caught the tool in his hand.

“Sora! They might be giving you a hard time, but that’s no excuse to get violent….listen,  there is a police officer in our den who wants to ask you some questions.” Seshin looked at him with a disappointed stare…and it crushed Sora. What he did wasn’t exactly wrong…but seeing Seshin disappointed in him hurt him deeply, after all, the man had become like a father to Sora.

Sora felt a cool breeze as he walked into the brightly lit den, bay window facing ajar to the sun. A young looking cop was sitting at the table, he didn’t look much older than Sora in fact, and he was much smaller….not that Sora was a large person in any respect. His eyes were friendly. He turned and smiled at Sora.

“Hello, my name is takumi. I came here to ask you a few questions.” Sora sighed and begrudgingly took a seat. He put a hand on his head and leaned back lazily, whistling while takumi readied the papers.

“Let me guess…this is about the kanemasa manor right?”

“Yes how did you know?....that’s awfully suspicious.” Takumi raised his hat and looked skeptically at Sora, Sora returned the stare with a frigid look of his own. He was starting to dislike how the man was treating him.

“How do I know? I don’t know, maybe the whole village giving me crap all morning, does that clue you in, **_Sherlock_**? “ takumi scribbled on a piece of paper. Sora just sat, irritated.

“Subject is uncooperative……so where were you last night between the hours of eight and eleven.” Sora was taken aback when the officer didn’t pay his answer any mind. Every second he could feel himself growing angrier.

“Fucking your mother.” Sora said through gritted teeth.

“My word! I could arrest you for harassing a police officer, now tell me the truth and I might be lenient.” Sora bit back a snarl.

“I was with Megumi shimizu….” Takumi raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? You really shouldn’t be doing those kinds of things at your age, you don’t want something that destroys your future, how irresponsible.” Sora nearly popped a blood vessel. Above anything else, he hated when people condescended towards him, especially those who weren’t much older than he was.

“ _The only irresponsible thing I’ll be doing is taking that baton you have and shoving it up your ass!_ She was helping me learn to read Japanese, we weren’t doing anything like that…..any more brilliant observations?” takumi backed up and relaxed his stare.

“I’m sorry……. I didn’t mean to turn you hostile…..i’ll bring her over and have her confirm your story. After that you’ll be free to go….I’m sorry everyone is giving you such a hard time…you don’t seem to be harboring any guilt.”

“it’s alright, I suppose my pride gets wounded too easily... _and I certainly don’t regret doing It,_ ” Sora said as he sipped tea.

An hour later.

“Yes Miss Shimizu, we would like to ask you about what you were doing last night from eight to eleven.” Megumi had the same glare as Sora. She stared at him with a chill so powerful Sora could feel his bones chatter. Her pupils turned to slits as she was about to reveal him. But Sora continued to stare at her with those same, hopeless pleading eyes.

“ _Serves you right, you’ll get exactly what’s coming to you!”_ just as Megumi was about to say something incriminating, Sora’s words from the night before echoed.

“ _She’s the only one who doesn’t treat me like an alien…..everyone just assumes things about her like they do me.”_ Megumi paused for a moment….those words seemed to have a powerful effect on her. She turned beet red for a moment and looked at the police officer.

“We were together…..studying.” against all of her better judgment she held up Sora’s story. Sora tried speaking up to them, just to clarify.

“It was embarrassing……the village already makes fun of me for so many other things, I just didn’t want this to be a factor.” Sora tried to muster as much faux guilt as possible. After a few last minute questions the officers left, and Seshin resumed his duties, leaving Sora and Megumi in the room alone together.

“Hey Megumi….thanks for sticking up for me-“Sora felt the impact of a familiar fist slam into his cheek. He maerveled at her impressive strength as the punch sent him flying out of the chair he was in.  A searing pain crept up on his face, but Megumi was far from finished, she knelt to the ground and started hitting him more. She even jammed the sharp end of her high heel into his ribs.

“gaah! Stop!” Sora whined.

“You bastard! You knew I loved that house! Why would you just destroy it for no reason?!” she said as her heel was still digging into Sora’s diaphragm. She even put another foot on his throat.

“Megu-can’t breath!” Sora gasped as the full force of Megumi’s fury let itself loose on his body. She was about to send a heel full force into his nether regions but as soon as he saw it he instinctively grabbed her foot and pulled her leg, sending her falling to the ground. She hit her head on a chair on the way down and started rubbing her neck.

“What was that for?” she said with teary eyes.

“You were about to heel me in the nuts! What did you expect?!” Tears started to pour down her face.

“You didn’t have to be so mean!” she said, almost in hysterics.

“Hey….I…I’m sorry.” Sora said as he inched closer, trying to comfort her. As soon as he put a hand on her shoulder, he caught what was to be the most powerful punch yet. So powerful in fact that it knocked the wind out of him.

“JERK!” her tears had evaporated, leaving only her defiant stare.

“t-tears…gone….huh?” Sora tried to laugh, but had to roll out of the way before she tried to jump on him again. “okay! Stop for real or I’m gonna have no choice to hit back!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. This seemed to scare her a little and she settled down.

“Why Sora? Why would you do that!?” she said, the anger slowly returning.

“Is it too late to say I didn’t?” he had to jump out of the way as she threw another punch.

 “OKAY! I had a good reason…..i just can’t explain it to you right now….” She raised a fist.

“You’d better!”

“I can’t! i…I just can’t…you wouldn’t believe me if I did,” he said as she raised it behind her arm.

“Remember, I'm gonna hit back this time,” he said, looking at her sternly. The two relaxed after she put her fists down.

“Is living here so bad that you have to vent your frustrations like that? I swear, you’re like a poorly trained dog,” she said condescendingly.

‘Watch it, you know I hate it when people talk down to me.” He said irritably.

 “You know, how bad this place is…..i guess we just handle frustration differently….speaking of handling frustration, can I expect you outside of my window tonight?” he said, with a big grin all plastered across his face. Megumi just looked at him tepidly.

“We’ll see.” She joked back as she pulled down her eye socket.

”By the way, I saw you handle that cop….how can you lie to people so shamelessly?”

“as long as no one gets hurt, lying cheating and stealing don’t matter….sometimes you have to do bad things for good reasons, and if that’s the case, I can do it as shamelessly as I need to……that being said, if I were to hurt someone’s feelings, or lie to them without having a proper plan…or just to preserve my own skin, then it would tear me up…..and I ever had to hurt anyone, even if it was for a good cause, it would shatter me…that’s probably why I fell for your fake tears so easily. Sorry if my weird sense of morals bothers you.” he put his hands together in a bowing motion.

“No, it doesn’t……at least its different from all of the others here. They force themselves and everyone else do anything within tradition…even if it doesn’t work well….look…I gotta get going, see you in class, school starts tomorrow.” Sora’s heart dropped when she mentioned school. But he waved her off.  Seshin walked by a few minutes later, and noticed the bruises all over Sora.

“I’m guessing she took the news rather harshly? That’s what you get when you break important things” Sora’s blood turned to ice.

“How did you know? I though I snuck out perfectly!”


	9. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora questions his resolve and the kirashiki's finalize plans to move in despite the mansions destruction

**da new draft...sorry it took so long, and rn is still on hiatus fora t least another week, but i hope this satisfies you for now...by the way, this story is going to get much darker from this point on, though this chapter is relatively tame within the next few, expect to see death, violence, torture, romance ect ect**

Megumi hugged the forest as she walked to the edge of the village.

" _No! Go the other way!"_ Sora could only silently plead as Megumi walked along, though he was following her, she couldn't seem to hear him, he tried to grab her shoulder, but his arm slipped through, it was almost as though he were a ghost, unable to alter the world despite it being his only desire.

The night air was dry, with a strong breeze. Megumi could smell it….thick with ash. She turned her back towards kanemasa.

"Ha! I'm free now! I'll have a fancy life in a big city" she said as she ran from the hill as fast ash she could

" _Please! You have to hear me! Not that way!"_ she continued along the path until she saw a clearing in the distance. She hid behind a few bushes as several cars passed. Their lights cut through the pitch dark.

"Just one lucky break, that's all I'm asking for here, they just need to pass." Megumi waited silently as the last of the cars stopped at a house several hundred meters away.

"Now!" Megumi made a running leap.

" _No! God! Not now! Not now! Go to the left! Go to the left!"_ Sora could only run after her in horror as she leapt forward, he tried as hard as he could to grab her shoulder, to tackle her, something, anything he could to get her attention, but every attempt was in vain.

Megumi was halfway across the road, nearly on the field to the other side, but she paused for a moment…..off in the distance she saw a man at the bus sign….a fond memory triggered. She saw Natsuno there…standing the opposite direction. She stared intently, stopping for a moment.

"Yuuki?" she could barely word that, almost chocking on her sadness.

" _Run Megumi! Focus! Get moving now! Please!"_ Sora could feel the tears beading up in his eyes as he had a first person view of the scene he knew so well.

"Hey, is that one of them? Get her!" the man shined a flashlight directly into her eyes, causing the black in her sclera to show. She instantly darted off, crawling into a field.

"Humans can't see in the dark, they'll never find me." She said, trying to force confidence.

" _You have to get up! Run! Run as fast as you can!"_ Sora tried to force her up with all of his might, but with each touch, his hands slid through.

She only made it a few feet before all of the farm vehicles in the field turned their headlights on to full brightness, lighting the area up like a stadium.

"No!" she screamed as she got up and started running straight through the center. Sora trailing straight behind.

" _Please! Please let me be able to do something! Anything!"_

She ran, ran in desperation, but a tractor was closing on her heels, Sora took a deep breath and threw himself in front of it, bracing himself for impact…..nothing, the tractor passed through him like air, instead hitting Megumi just beyond him. He was floored, unable to process anything going on around him, each time a tractor passed, he tried to throw himself at hit, hoping some shred of solid matter would stop it, all with no luck. He was simply forced to watch as they all hit Megumi, one after another, not only ignoring him, but ignoring her own pleas and begging as well.

" _Please….please stop…."_ Sora could only watch in horror, tears streaming down his face as her arm was pinned by the wheel of a combine harvester, sticking her to the ground. She let out a blood curdling scream as the pain poured from her broken limb. She tried as hard as she could to pull it from under the wheel but with no luck. In her final moments, she spit and cursed at the village and the people in it, for the way she was treated, and because she still wanted to leave.

" _raaaagghhh!"_ Sora threw himself at the driver of another tractor as it backed over her head, but every punch kick and scream had no effect. His blistering fury unable to be quenched.

"We've drawn this out long enough" the man said, stake in hand, Megumi was still squirming underneath the tractor, even with her head caved in.

" _I'll kill you!"_ Sora let out one final desperate attempt at the man holding up the stake, trying with all his might, with every fiber of willpower, to make a punch connect, to make anything happen, anything at all. But all he could do is watch helplessly as they hammered the stake in, her thin frame stopping its motion, one final time. Sora fell backwards, squirming away from the horror he had borne witness too. He couldn't see clearly, and he put his hands over his face, letting the last of his emotions pour away.

"No…..no…no….."

""Sora! Wake up! It was just a nightmare" Sora's eyelids were hallway open as he noticed Seshin grabbing his shoulder.

"GAH!" in an instant Sora grabbed at Seshin's throat, still in a state of half sleep as his hands tightened around Seshin's neck. Seshin looked at him afraid for a moment but calmly pushed him off. The vile look or Sora's face melting away as his surroundings came back to him. He could feel the sweat on his hands. As he grabbed hold of the blankets he was under, he noticed they were dripping wet, evident of the nightmare he just had. Sora lay in his room, window open, and crisp Sotoba air pouring in through the vents. He was sleeping, or rather, something close to it. He moved restlessly from one side of the bed to the other working up a cold sweat. It chilled him to the bone.. Every once in a while he would let out a grunt or a moan. A cry of pain. But nothing seemed to draw him from that sleep.

"I…I'm sorry Seshin…..i must not have realized." Sora stared at him distantly.

"From the looks of it, it must have been quite the dream. I could hear your screams from half of the temple away. Do you want to tell me what it was about?" Sora could feel a lump in his throat.

"I'm alright." He said, tears marking the corner of his eyes.

"You shouldn't hold these things in, can you at least try?" Sora took a deep breath.

"It would take too long to explain. Its better if I don't bother, its not like it matters anyway."

"Sora, I know it's taking you time to adjust, but remember that I'll always be here for you." Sora felt a ping of guilt nip away at him. Slowly he came clean.

"….i wasn't able to protect someone I care about… I put in every possible effort, tried as hard as I could, but I couldn't even change anything, or effect the world around me…..no matter how much I fought, no matter how much I kicked and screamed….it just never seemed like enough, and things happened like they always did…..and I was forced to watch." Sora rubbed a tear away "sorry about the emotional outpour…not very manly is it?" Seshin looked at Sora with nothing but warmth and acceptance.

"If there is one thing I truly understand…..it's being powerless. So I'd have at least a modicum of an idea of what you're going through." Sora could feel more sadness building inside.

"Do you have any idea? Any idea what it's like to watch something over and over again? Something you wish you could do anything to prevent, something you'd give your soul for? Something that you would see happen, even if it meant the total purging of your existence." Sora slammed a fist into a wall. "I'm tired of being worthless! I'm tired of not being able to make a difference!"

"What do you mean? What happened? Was it something in your past?" Seshin put his arm around him.

"No….but it was something that I wish I could prevent…now especially, I'm so close I can smell it….." Sora rubbed at his eyes.

"Are you projecting?"

"Well….maybe…..but I still worry….what if I'm not good enough…what if I can't rise to action when I'm truly needed? What if I'm too weak to accomplish what I want to?" Sora scratched his arm nervously…."these thoughts always worry me and I've always felt powerless to do anything…look, I should get back to bed, no sense crying over spilled milk right?" Sora smiled warmly as Seshin walked up and removed his hand from the teens shoulder.

"Sora…..you don't need to deal with everything alone, I'll always be here… _I wish you wouldn't be so vague_ " Sora chuckled fondly.

"That's a nice thought….. _is it true though? What if what we want differs…._ sorry to bother you, I better get back to sleep, class is in the morning right….. _damn it, I hate school, least I'll get a few hours of rest…._ night Seshin." Seshin smiled tepidly at the young man.

"About that…..it's actually seven thirty. You need to get to the bus stop." Sora's heart dropped.

A few minutes later

Sora walked along the dirt roads that connected Sotoba, kicking a pebble in boredom every once in a while. He sighed as he neared a clearing. He tried to keep his head down as the villagers pestered him with their normal insults, resisting the urge to tackle some of the more vile ones.

"Hey Sora!" a young girl said. Though he tried to ignore it, assuming it was just another village lout. "Remember me? It's Kaori. Kaori Tanaka! And this is my brother, Akira" Sora stopped dead in his tracks.

" _Fuck…_ Haaiiii Kaori! How've you been?'" Sora said, with a friendly façade.

"Oh just going to class. Did you hear about this, and that and the other thing? Oh and that thing too!"

"Uh huh? Tell me more…. _god, you never stop talking, do you?"_ Sora smiled and nodded politely as kaori talked on and on about events in the village and the latest gossip. After a few minutes he decided to break it off. He smiled tepidly before speaking to Kaori again.

"Listen, these chats are fun and all, but I really gotta get going" Sora tried to be as polite as he could, while still trying to exit that situation.

"Hey, did you hear about the dead bodies in Yamairi? It made the paper!" Sora looked over to Akira.

"yeah, I live with Seshin, so he told me before anyone else knew…. _jeeze this situation seems familiar"_ Sora said blandly. "Lots of old people in the village, not surprising some of them would die."

"You know, my friend Megumi said something similar a few minutes ago…but she ran off for some reason." Sora took more interest in what Kaori was saying, he leaned a bit closer.

"Oh is that so…. _i think I just found out what day it is…_ I gotta run up ahead, but it was nice talking to you…"

Natsuno stood at the bus stop, Megumi a few feet behind him. A warm breeze blew through his hair and the sun was shining brightly in that early morning. Natsuno had to shield his eyes from the drying breeze. He whipped a bead of sweat off of his forehead.

" _man….sometimes all I can think about is how much I want to get out of here…..shes standing behind me again….man I hate this girl, so desperate for me to return her feelings, I bet even now she's pining after me, studying every small little gesture I make, maybe trying to match the way I breath, or read my mind, or something."_ Natsuno stood there thinking, thinking about many things. The city, Megumi, or rather how to deal with Megumi, what he wanted to eat today, homework, many things. But for some reason he couldn't purge her from his mind. He wanted to look at her, just to see if she was giving him that same hungry stare.

" _Strange…she isn't trying to talk to me."_ Natsuno finally succumbed to his curiosity and snuck a peek behind him. Megumi was just standing there casually, a magazine was in her hand and her face was buried in it, she didn't even notice Natsuno looking at her. She lowered her hand and yawned. She noticed Natsuno and looked over.

"Huh? Oh, hi Yuuki." She said flatly, forgetting he was even there within an instant. Natsuno's jaw was slightly ajar. He was utterly shocked that Megumi wasn't breathing down his neck. Suddenly Natsuno heard a voice in the distance.

"Hey guys! How are ya?" Natsuno saw Megumi's face change direction, she smiled brightly and her eyes lit up.

"Hi Sora! Whats up?" she said, trying to play it casually as the teen walked towards them.

"Oh, usual stuff…..unfortunately class too."

" _Has Sora really gotten her off of my back? She used to smile at me like that,"_ Natsuno was still looking at the two. Continuing to stare in pure morbid curiosity.

"Yeah…school's back in, doesn't it suck?" Sora laughed at her.

"Yeah….you have no idea….i'm usually at my worst when I'm in school, so if you see a total personality shift then please, remember that I'm not myself." The two laughed harder.

"Oh hey Natsuno, didn't see you there, how's it going?" Natsuno remained silent.

"Hey, can't you hear me?" Sora tried speaking louder "Yo! Natsuno, I said hi to you! Don't you remember me? Sora?" Natsuno continued to meet him with silence.

"hola gilipollas , espero que usted tenga un día de mierda ." Sora said with a sneer on his face. Natsuno looked back at him curiously.

"What the hell does that mean?" he said crossly.

"Look it up."

"Wow Sora! I didn't know you speak Spanish!" Megumi said with stars in her eyes. "What did you say to him?"

"I said" Sora whispered in her ear, and she started to laugh hysterically. "And for the record, I don't actually know that much, just a few basic words and phrases…and lots of insults" Sora pretended to laugh maniacally.

"Finally, the stupid bus is here" Natsuno said annoyed.

A few hours later.

"and that was when the American forces advanced the tet offensive in veitnam." The teacher broke his chalk in irritation as he looked over to see Sora sleeping in his desk. "So Sora…since you seem to know everything, why don't you answer all of the questions on the board to the entire class"

"whut….what? Where am i?" Sora said half asleep, wiping drool from his jaw as he clicked his tongue. The entire class, save Megumi and Natsuno, burst out laughing.

"In class….answer ALL of these questions" Sora looked at the board meekly.

"1975, Richard Nixon, post-traumatic stress disorder, 55,820, and to stop the advance of communism." Sora said flatly. The entire class was speechless, and the teacher's mouth was agape. He regained his composure quickly.

"Uh…." He had to read through his book for a moment "those were all correct." Sora had his pinky in his ear as the teacher spoke to him, an absent look on his face. "You…can….go ahead and go back to what you were doing."

'thanks….. _man, I'm sure glad I already took world history"_ Sora yawned as he drifted back to sleep.

A few hours later.

"o…a….ora….sora? Sora!" Megumi snapped her fingers impatiently as Sora slowly drifted back into consciousness.

"What? What? I'm….im awake…..im *snore*" Megumi scowled. She grabed the sleeping boy's palm and started to dig a fingernail in. Sora could feel a burning pain, but in his sleepish mood wasn't willing to figure out the source…..then Megumi hit a nerve cluster. "GAH! WHAT THE FUCK!" Sora could feel his whole body jolt with pain. In an instant he was up and alert

"Sora! Language!" the teacher shouted from across the room. Sora made a bowing motion with his hands.

"So..What's up?" Sora looked at her curiously.

"Huh?"

"Well its lunch time, we can do what we want for an hour" she said with a smile. Sora looked at her fondly, watching as her bright pink hair flowed in the breeze, how beautifully the light reflected from her skin. Sora was about to speak, but bit his tongue. He was anxious, and rightfully so.

" _That's right…..I've never actually just…talked…..with Megumi before…..there was always some kind of purpose, or I had an ulterior motive, or I was mining information…._ well…nothing much really." Sora scratched his arm as his eyes darted from one place to another.

"whats wrong? You don't seem like yourself." Sora shivered.

"It's just….this place…..i told you I'm a totally different person here." She looked at him skeptically.

"Is that so? You seemed like you know what you're doing to me" she raised an eyebrow. He smiled tepidly.

"I guess…." Sora said as he drifted back to sleep " _I won't let you get hurt Megumi. Not ever."_ She smiled as Sora fell back to sleep

That night.

"WHAT?! What do you mean it was destroyed?!" Sunako was fuming. Seshiro was sitting back, biting his thumb nervously, as the vampires latest quarry was squirming in the corner.

"Apparently someone got it in their mind to destroy the house….the police report said that they went for a loadbearing column first, but that the attacker must not have been able to break through it. They did destroy all of the furniture and all of the windows though.

"So…what your saying, is that there is no place for us? How are we supposed to inhabit that place if there is no light shielding?" Seshiro smiled a little bit as he raised his rifle at the squirming man.

"Not exactly…..the officer did say that whoever it was…well, they forgot the basement." Sunako smiled smugly.

"Well…then I guess we'll move after all….sorry if it might be a bit uncomfortable for you and Chizuru."

"Don't worry madam…..I've already told Tatsumi to pay special attention to the one who destroyed the manor" Sunako laughed.

"no one will be getting in the way this time"

**glad you all read, remeber to please elave a review of what you thought, i can't tall how people are feeling if they dont voice thier opinions after all**


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora tries desperately to stop megumi from entering kanemasa. sunako sets off to meet seshin

“Hmp….it seems like there was more damage than the investigator led us to believe.” Sunako slowly and angrily paced around the wreckage of the Kanemasa manor. The moonlight pierced deeply into every corner of the area, with no windows to block light and mere piles of rubble to stand in its way, the entire foyer room was glowing in pale blue light. Sunako walked up to a wall. Hanging on it was a broken portrait of her, along with chizuru, seshiro, and her other employees. She bent down and picked up a jagged piece of glass, letting it reflect brightly in the light. “ _Whoever did this is going to suffer, this was my favorite picture.”_  Sunako gritted her teeth as her black eyes narrowed into slits.

“ma’am, once we start turning the villagers, is there anything you want us to do? You mentioned finding the one responsible, I was just wondering how that would play out.” Sunako turned to Tatsumi, fire still brewing in her black soulless eyes.

“I want you to make him suffer. Beat him within an inch of his life, turn him, and once he’s risen we’ll give him the worst position we can find, or leave him to rot in the sun. But make sure the other shiki bear witness, let no one defy us.” She crushed the glass in her bare hands, letting the fragments fall down, glittering in their descent. Tatsumi stared back at her with a perplexed look.

“Doesn’t that seem a bit harsh? It’s not like whoever did this knew what we we’re up to, it was probably just some delinquent teenager, the beating would be my pleasure, but letting him turn to ash…that just seems like a waste.” Tatsumi bit his thumb as he recoiled from sunako’s harsh reprimand.

“Are you defying an order?” she said coldly.

“No….just voicing a concern….sorry. I won’t speak out of turn….” Sunako’s icy stare softened.

“Well….you’re still young….I’ve been in this position for over a hundred years, fear and destruction are the only messages people receive. We will have to sacrifice one to keep the rest of them in line. You’ll learn. I have faith in you.” she smiled sweetly. Tatsumi just looked back tepidly. Suddenly Seshin and chizuru walked in, her arm was over his shoulder, and Sunako could see the fresh bite marks on seshiro’s neck.

“You really should give him more time to rest, at least a week between bites. At this rate seshiro might expire.” Sunako stared at them boredly.

“mistress…any way I can serve you is more than enough, if it meant my death to fulfill your oals then by all means, it was a life worth lived.” Seshiro smiled fondly at Sunako.

“I appreciate your fanaticism….but remember that you are worth more to us as a human…and I can’t risk the odds of you turning into a jinrou like Tatsumi…sure you’re giving your blood willingly, but you still have a high chance of simply dying, or even rising as a garden variety vampire like Chizuru and i.” Sunako walked around a pile of broken furniture to a disheveled bookcase.

“Excellent, all of Mr. muroi’s novels survived…. _it’s not long now, I think I might try to meet him tomorrow night. It would be wonderful to add someone like him to our ranks.”_

**The next morning**

Megumi ran through the clothes in her closet. Pulling out all manner of eccentric fashion, some dresses were rather tame. Others left little to the imagination.

“ _Now….what’s a good statement to make today….i want to make a fantastic impression on everybody, they’ll all admire my astonishing beauty, maybe I’ll be so pretty the villagers won’t even make fun of me anymore.”_ Megumi chuckled haughtily to herself. “ _I wonder what color Sora likes…..WAIT I mean Natsuno! What color does Natsuno like?!”_ Megumi had to catch her breath as her thoughts trailed off. She rooted through her clothing until she found something she considered acceptable. A yellow dress with skulls lining the lower cutoff. And a pair of gothic spiked boots. She smiled to herself as she slipped out of the door.

**Meanwhile**

“WHAT?!?!?!  What do you mean the new family moved in? I thought I leveled that place!!!!” Seshin sighed as Sora started to lose his mind.

“They decided to move in anyway….apparently a certain vandal didn’t destroy everything.” Sora was utterly flabbergasted. He stumbled back and fell into a chair. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was agape.

“I…I….I….forgot something?” Sora’s hands were trembling. Suddenly he felt himself grow ill. “ _that means……no……NO! Megumi!!!!”_ Sora felt numb, the whole world crumbled beneath him. As he was left processing the information he was given. “Sei, I have to go….like right now!” Seshin sipped his tea curiously.

“Why, you still have work today.” Sora glared at him, sending a chill down the monk’s spine.

“I need the keys to your moped! I HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!!!!!” Seshin was taken aback.

“Sora? You look so concerned, what’s wrong?” Seshin was starting to work up a sweat.

“Something very very bad is going to happen today if I don’t intervene….ughh…I’ll explain everything once I’ve made sure she’s safe.” Sora said as he yanked the keys form Seshin’s hand. Sora ran out of the door as fast as he could, almost leaping down the temple steps into the seat of the mini bike below. With as much force as possible he rammed the key into the ignition and sped off, leaving Seshin standing in the threshold, mouth agape.

“ _Something bad?....That’s the final straw, once he gets back, he had better explain all of the cryptic behavior, it still shocks me that he isn’t of this world….but I have no other explanation.”._

Sora was a man possessed, speeding as fast as he could along the Sotoba roads, he didn’t even notice the people as he blazed by. The wind was swirling in his hair, he had to move it out of his eyes every few moments, and the sun was shining so brightly. He didn’t know if he would even be able to see Megumi’s home in the distance, but he was still going as fast as the bike would take him. Finally after what seemed like hours, he arrived on the Shimizu’s doorstep. Without a second thought he walked up to it and rang the bell, every moment seemed to stretch into hours as Sora impatiently waited for someone to answer the door. Finally a man with a slight gut, and a bland looking woman came up to the door.

‘hello, this is the shimizu home, how can we help you?” Sora stood thinking for a moment.

“ _wait…I’ve never really thought about it before…but how on earth do you get someone like Megumi….from…..people like….this….”_ Sora studied their faces, unable to put the puzzle together “ _wait…gotta think of a convincing lie”_

“So…will you tell us why you are here?” the man said impatiently.

“Oh, yeah…where’s Megumi?” the man gave him an icy stare.

“And just what do you want with my daughter?” Sora could feel the tension thickening.

“*gulp* we had a school project together, I just wanted to ask her about her half” he put his face closer to Sora’s.

“Hmm…couldn’t you have just called?”

“I don’t have her number….i’m the new villager, Sora….the one everybody accuses of every slight misfortune in the village?” the man’s stare softened.

“Yeah, we can be a bit quick to assume, ….anyway, Megumi isn’t here.” Sora’s heart dropped.

“Do you know where she might be?” Sora asked impatiently.

‘no, she’s probably out walking, showing her dress off or something like that.” Sora could feel his pulse race.

“Well, whenever she returns, just let her know I dropped by…. _shit…shit shit shit shit shit! God damn it! Oh man! If she’s already gone into the mansion…..i gotta move!”_ his heart was pounding out of his chest, without another word he left their doorstep and hopped onto the minibike, speeding off into the distance. After perusing the streets of Sotoba he  finally rounded the path up to the manor. A few feet away he saw Kaori walking her dog love.

“Kaori!!!! Have you seen Megumi?!” Sora shouted as the moped screeched to a halt.

“Huh? Oh hi Sora! How are you doing? I’ve been having a pretty good day myself” Sora had to stifle his irritation. He put a finger on her lip

“Yeah, whatever, that’s nice….look,  Megumi, have you seen her or not?” Kaori looked at him strangely.

“Uh yeah, she walked up the path to the mansion. You literally just missed her”

“Thanks!” Sora said as he sped off up the path. With ever y passing foot his stomach churned a little more, he couldn’t seem to see Megumi or spot her. Until finally he was only a few meters to the top of the hill.

“oww….that really hurt” Sora felt the most powerful relief in his life as he saw Megumi huddled on the ground rubbing her knee.

“ _Oh thank god! Thank god thank god thank god! i wasn’t too late!...._ hey Megumi! Whats wrong?” Sora wiped the sweat from his brow as he tried to hide his desperation.

“Sora?... _oh my god? Did he see me fall?”_ she went beet red.

 _“_ Yup, in the flesh.” Sora walked over to her and helped her up off of the ground “so what were you doing here anyway?... _you certainly wont be finishing….”_ Megumi picked up the corners of her dress and twirled.

“Oh, I came to see the new family who moved in, I was surprised that they still did, especially after you-“ Sora rushed to her and put his hand over her mouth. He whispered quietly in her ear.

“shhh….the walls have ears… _I hope Tatsumi can’t hear us…._ ” He let up his grip and she stared at him crossly. But the anger quickly faded from her eyes.

“Sorry...wasn’t thinking…anyway it was nice seeing you, but I’m gonna go meet them now”Sora’s eyes grew wide as she nearly trailed off. He grabbed her arm.

“Wait, don’t!”  He was frantic.

“What? Why not? Scared I might rat you out?” she saw the desperation and Sora’s eyes. It caused her to recoil from his grip.

“Well…a little…just don’t go in!” she looked at him warmly.

“Look…I know I was pissed at you before, but there’s no reason I’d tell on my only friend, hahaha”

“ _aww, I’m her only friend?...._ what about Kaori? I thought you two were pretty close.” Megumi’s face contorted into a snarl.

“eww, no….that relationship is all one sided. I’ve tried being mean to her so she’ll leave me alone, but she won’t take the hint.” Sora sighed.

“So it’s like you and Natsuno then? Wait! That just came out!” Megumi was taken aback; Sora could see the anger on her face.

“That was different!” Sora stepped back “whatever…..i’m going now, so stop bothering me.” She snorted at him.

“Please wait!” he grabbed her arm again, but she tried to fight back “please Megumi! Don’t go!”

“Let go creep!” Sora was out of options he tried as fast as he could to think of some kind of lie, some kind of excuse to get her to stay with him….and then he noticed how beautiful she looked in the sunlight.

Sora kissed Megumi, he held her arm and slid the other across her waist. Megumi struggled at first, her eyes wide in shock, but after a few seconds she was swept up in the passion, in turn putting her arm on his and clutching his back with the other. After a moment or so, Sora let off. Megumi moaned quietly as Sora retracted. Both of their faces were as red as a sunset. And Megumi bit the corner of her lip.

“ _Oh man….i…I can’t believe…..i can’t believe I did that to Megumi. I’ll have to think of a great lie for that one…._ well…….sorry about that.” Sora said, blushing intensely.

“i……” Megumi was at a loss for words. “I had no idea you felt that way about me.” She stammered.

“I… _this…might work…._ yeah….I didn’t know how to tell you…..thats why I was looking for you today.” Sora said, almost choking on the embarrassment.

“Well….you found me.” She said, feeling the same way.

“ _this would be a great chance to see how she feels about me…Iwill live even if she hates me, I just want her to be safe most of all, even if I have to hit her over the head and tie her up until this whole Sotoba mess is over with…god I hope I don’t have to do that….though it would be nice if she liked me as much as I do her…_ how do you feel about me?’ Sora asked.

“Well…i….i don’t know…..there is just so much going on all at once….i can’t think straight right now….. _do I still have feelings for Natsuno? But Sora……he actually wants to spend time with me…and he can be really sweet under all of the sarcasm and mystery….he even put up with me when I was using him”_ Megumi felt a pang of guilt when she remembered the day at the resturaunt “to be honest….i have been thinking about you lately…it’s not like I haven’t entertained the idea of you.” she was touching two fingers together as she twirled her hair nervously.

“if you don’t like me…I totally get it…I’m not exactly a steal of a guy…look I’m sorry for bothering you…. _should I go? Maybe she’s surprised enough to just leave….but then I won’t know how she truly feels about me…man, why do girls have to be so difficult?!”_ Sora palmed the hood on his shirt.

“No! its not that I don’t like you!...this is just so weird for me, I honestly didn’t consider what would happen if someone I showed interest in showed interest back….i’ve always been giving my feelings…not receiving them from others, you know? So…I don’t know what to think.” Sora felt sorry for her. He put a hand on her shoulder.

“Then…will you spend some time with me?” Sora said. “maybe you could figure out how you feel if we spent some real time together, no using, no manipulating, no information mining, just for fun.” He smiled awkwardly.

“It’s a nice thought…but what fun could we have in this place?” Sora hopped up back on the mini bike, and patted the seat behind him.

“We could start by driving down this hill really fast!” Megumi laughed at how childish he sounded.

“I guess” she tried to sound arrogant about it, but couldn’t help cracking a smile. Megumi walked up behind him and hopped into the back part of the seat.

“Put your hands around my waist” Megumi blushed as Sora gave her the command.

‘Are you sure?” she said hesitantly.

“You’ll fall off otherwise…. _i suppose Seshin won’t mind me borrowing this today.”_  Megumi obeyed and Sora sped off down the hill, her grip tightening as his speed increased. She pressed her cheek into his back during the fastest parts. And the jumps.

And that was how Sora and Megumi spent the day together.

**Later that night**

“I should probably bring you home…your father might get worried.” Sora slowed the minibike to a halt.

“well…it might be best if you dropped me off here….my dad might get angry at you for keeping me out so late.” Sora thought about it for a moment.

‘are you sure you’ll be safe… _the kirashiki’s have probably all fed by now…..but I’ll have to tell her about the vampire problem eventually…but I just want today to be fun.”_ Sora smiled as Megumi dismounted.

“Oh…and Sora?” Megumi walked to the front of the minibike, and knelt down to Sora’s level. She put a hand on his cheek and kissed him, once more. “My answer……is yes….” She giggled as she ran off, and Sora felt butterflies swimming in his stomach.

“wow.” Sora was dumbstruck for a moment. But then realized his own predicament. “ _Oh crap! I better get back to the temple! Sei has got to be worried sick!”_ Sora sped off back to the temple. Running up the steps as fast as he could, he reached the gate and one of the volunteers let him inside.

“Hope you had a nice day, but you should have called, Seshin was starting to get worried.” Sora sked where he was and met him sitting at the table.

“Oh, Sora. You’ve brought my bike back in one piece I see.” He said calmly.

“uhh…yeah…it served me well.” Sora was starting to get cold chills; he knew that tone of voice well, when someone was so mad that they were empty. “Look…I’m sorry I didn’t call or anything…but…” Seshin turned around to meet his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it……but…there is one thing…….you’ve been hiding something from me ever since I took you in. its time to come clean.” Sora let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh that’s all? I keep meaning to tell you, but things keep happening.” Just at that moment one of the temple patrons asked for Seshin.

“Sir? There’s a little girl at the temple steps who wants to see you”

“I’ll be right down.” Sora looked on in horror as Seshin got up.

“I’ll come too… _Sunako…you won’t be sinking your claws into Seshin this time._ ” Sora absolutely insisted despite Seshin’s protests until they were just at the temple steps.

“Mr. Muroi? Are you Seshin Muroi?” Sunako smiled as her black eyes pierced the night.

‘Why yes. What was it you needed of me?” she twirled her hair.

“Well, I’ve read all of your books. And I just wanted to meet you.” if there was any blood flowing to her face, she would have blushed. But instead she simply stood there, cold and unmoving.

“yep, uncle Sei here is one hell of a writer….by the way…you have very pretty eyes…..what an unusual color… _I’m gonna expose you here and now, that way, I won’t have to stake anybody_ ” Sora stared back at Sunako with a bitter scowl, Sunako could sense it and in turn replied coldly.

“Yes…..it’s a rare genetic trait, it marks my illness, my mother and I can’t be out in the sunlight. It burns our skin terribly.” She scowled back at Sora.

“Well, I’m sorry for being so insensitive…why don’t you come to the temple and we can have a cup of tea… _that’s gotta suck, I’m inviting you in and the only thing keeping you at bay is the fear of religious artifacts…ha! I might as well twist the knife while I’ve got you.”_ Sora smiled maliciously.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea” Seshin said “I could even show you one of my first edition manuscripts.” Sora couldn’t help but chuckle knowing full well what a treat Sunako was being denied.

”well…I’d love too, but I’m in a hurry. I’ve only got another few minutes to spend here.” Seshin laughed but Sora knew what he had to do. Slowly, he pulled the pocketknife out. He turned away from the two to make sure they couldn’t see what he was doing, he put the flat of the edge against his palm and clenched his theeth.

“ _Okay….whew….you can do this, this bravado wasn’t for nothing! Go! Go! Go!”_ as fast as he could he ran the sharp across the flat of his hand, making a shallow cut, but one that bled profusely. “gah! Seshin! I cut my hand!... _i’m glad I sharpened this today, or this would hurt a lot more that it does…but I still feel sick to my stomach_ ” Sora grimaced, but clearly held the gut up to Sunako, making sure she could see every last drop of blood, he even went so far as to swing his hand, acting like he was in more pain that he really was, a drop of blood landed on her cheek.

“ _Blood?!”  she_ tried desperately from keeping the red in her eyes from showing. But with every passing second her thoughts grew numb, only serving to feed the intense hunger boiling inside of her, she could smell the blood on her cheek, when Seshin wasn’t looking she licked it clean “so…sweet” she whispered under her breath. With each passing second she was more and more tempted to run at the two fangs bared and ready to feed. “ _no….must maintain cover. But….so much blood….”_ Sunako dug into her arm until a small trickle of her own blood started to drip, unbeknownst to the two in front of her “I have to go. I’m sorry about your cut.” Sunako ran off as fast as she could into the night. And Sora was sitting there bleeding. He let out a sting of curses so foul that Seshin turned red.

“jeeze Sora, I know it hurts, but could you at least be respectful?” Sora gritted his teeth.

“So…do you suppose that girl was hemophobic?” Sora asked in a half joking manner. Still cursing under his breath.  “ _damn it all! Now there is a blood thirsty vampire out in the village……it should be okay…though I feel sorry for whoever encounters her next….i’d give chase, but I don’t think I'm in any position to fight right now…….damn…how could that plan fail?!”_

**Meanwhile**

Megumi walked the night path home. The air was cool , a stark difference from this afternoon. And her head was swimming. She skipped along happily as her thoughts turned to Sora.

‘ _wow, I never thought I would grow to like him…but something about him is just…..so cool. I wish I could put my finger on it…..but I'm glad I bought this while we were out”_ Megumi held up a postcard with a love note written on it. She planned to give it to Sora later, when he wasn’t expecting it. She reached the center village path, and could see the mansion on the hill, glowing in the moonlight. Even half destroyed, it still had an almost hypnotic presence.

“I see you like my new house?” Megumi turned to face a little girl with long purple hair and piercing black eyes standing a few feet away from her.

“Yeah!... _this must be the little girl who lives there…_ its way better than anything in this boring old village. Its one of the few things that give me hope here.” She swooned as she thought of it.

“Really? I’m glad to hear that my family’s home brings such joy to you. you should come by…. _you might just be here forever….”_ sunako curtsied with her dress. And Megumi had stars in her eyes

“ _Wow she handles herself just like a princess!_ I’d love to come by!” she clasped her hands together.

“I’m glad you think that way…..hey there’s a special message hidden in one of the windows, if you focus really hard, you should be able to see it.” Megumi nodded and looked at the house as hard as she could, she didn’t even notice sunako advancing towards her.

“I’m not seeing anything.” She said.

“Keep looking” Sunako said maliciously

“Oh! I think I see-“ Sunako sank her fangs deep into Megumi’s neck, drawing out as much of her sweet blood as she could.

“Terribly sorry about that. If it weren’t for an incident earlier I probably wouldn’t have been hungry. Hey, be sure to let me in if I'm ever around your home. Okay sweetie?” Megumi nodded with approval. Her eyes glazed over as she lost consciousness.

“ _I can’t…wait…..to…get….out….of…..sotoba…….”_ she thought as the last few moments of lucidity slipped away from her.

**hope you enjoyed, drop a comment/review. and i hope you all like the fan art, my friend worked hard on it, be sure to check out the stuff from the pprevious chapters too**


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora checks on megumi while she's sick, and he and seshin hatch a plan

**here is the newest chapter, as far as progress for this story goes, id say its maybe 1/3 complete hope you enjoy leave a comment/review and all that chewy goodness.**

The sunlight cut a channel into Sora"s room. One bright streak, a result of the door that was left cracked open. As Sora was waking up, the intense light shined into his eyes, and as he opened them from a log sleep, he was greeted with the sharp pain of bright light hitting his eyes.

"agh" he said as he used his hand to shield him from the light. He slowly clambered out of bed and reluctantly put on his school uniform. A quick yawn and he was out the door. He sluggishly clambered down the long staircase from the temple and made his way to the bus stop. The day was hotter than usual, even for Sotoba and Sora found himself working a sweat in the thick oxford shirt that made the base of his school uniform. He wiped the sweat off of his brow as he saw Natsuno standing at the bus stop. Sora slowly stopped walking and leaned on the hot metal pole.

"Hey Natsuno." He said halfheartedly. Natsuno nodded in acknowledgement. It only took a moment, but Sora knew something was amiss. "Yo, were is Megumi?" he asked to himself, though Natsuno heard his question and looked at him.

"You didn't hear? She's sick." Sora felt like he was about to vomit when Natsuno said that. Natsuno saw the young man shaking and felt a modicum of concern.

"What do you mean sick…?  _I thought I kept her out of the mansion! Is that why she wanted me to drop her off?!"_ Sora could feel the weight of the entire world on his shoulders.

"I didn't hear much, but apparently she stumbled home and nearly passed out." Sora was sweating like a stuck pig; it caused the bandages on his hand to slip off revealing the scar on his palm. Natsuno looked at it when he heard the sound. "You look like you've had better days too. Where'd that come from?" Sora made a move to hide the wound, it was still fresh, and was prone to splitting; it burned especially when drips of sweat slipped into its cracks.

" _Why was I so stupid?! I was so wrapped up in exposing Sunako that I didn't even consider the consequences of failure…now I'm stuck with this painful gash, and the vampires are not only here…but still undercover….god I hope Megumi just got exhausted…but I have a sinking feeling"_ Sora took a deep breath, but every heartbeat made him want to run screaming into Megumi's room. He really started to feel sick. Stress mixed with heat stroke was a very powerful combination.

"Oh this? I was sharpening one of the tools that the temple uses and it slipped. Cut me pretty good too, blood everywhere." Natsuno almost chuckled.

"Be more careful….idiot." Sora was too exhausted to perceive his insult.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that was genuine concern….i didn't know you had emotions." Sora said laughingly. "You must really hate Megumi, since you wouldn't even talk to me when she was here with us" Natsuno scoffed at him.

"I just don't want her to get wrapped up in the conversation….she might fall back for me." Sora laughed nervously.

"She seems like a kicked puppy to me. I'm not surprised she fell so hard for you at first. You must have been like a light at the end of the tunnel, though I understand why you might not like her…look…..lets bury the hatchet, it won't do either of us any good to be at each other's throats all the time…. _it might even make it easier to convince you not to kill the shiki, if it comes to that…_ " Natsuno looked distantly.

"Yeah….it's more convenient not having an enemy….whatever." Sora smiled.

**A few hours later.**

Sora was feeling anxious; he had patched things up with Natsuno and the two even helped each other on an assignment. But the thought of Megumi was still embedded in his mind, and he couldn't settle it.

" _maybe she's just sick….i doubt she was attacked last night…..but now that the vampires are here, the deaths are gonna creep up exponentially if I don't act fast"_ Sora could feel a pit growing in his stomach " _god….i don't wanna stake anybody….i really hope I don't have to."_ The class finished up their assignments and Natsuno walked up to Sora.

"Hey….you looked pretty sick yourself today, you didn't catch anything from Megumi did you?" Sora looked at Natsuno and let out a small laugh.

"Did you just make an STD joke?" he asked hesitantly.

"No…but you two were with each other yesterday, so I figured that's why you were sweating bullets….maybe that cut of yours is infected. You should see the doctor." Sora held up his palm.

"No….im just stressed out, school, new home, family dying in a fire, villagers spreading lies and rumors about me….that sort of stuff." Natsuno sighed.

"Yeah….i hate this place too, sometimes all I can think about is how much I wanna get out of here…..anyway, the teacher gave me this, it's the homework for Megumi. I don't want to give it to her for obvious reasons." Sora took the papers from Natsuno.

'gives me a convenient excuse to check up on her, that's for sure….as far as I know, her dad doesn't know that we kissed." Natsuno raised an eyebrow, a smirk crept across his face.

"So…..she really is free of me? Hehe" he could barely suppress laughter.

'Whoa! You can smile?" Sora said sarcastically.

"Now that you've seen it I'll have to kill you." Natsuno said dryly, reverting back to his usual glum default expression. Sora looked utterly shocked.

"YOU HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR?!" Natsuno clicked his tongue as he walked away from the man.

The day was full of surprises for Sora and as he was busy picking his jaw from the floor, the exit bell rang. The class bowed to the teacher, and everyone made their way outside. Sora had to ask a few people where Megumi lived, but no one seemed to be able to give him directions. Finally he saw Kaori sitting on a bench a few blocks from the school. He choked on his pride and asked her if she would take him there.

"Sora? Hi! How are you? I've been well, the village ladies did this that and the other thing again today, and I had so much home work yesterday that i-" Sora's mind trailed off as Kaori began rambling about everything she had been experiencing since last they met. The walk to Megumi's house was long…..too long. Every word Kaori spoke seemed to give Sora an even more intense headache.

" _Jeeze no wonder Megumi enjoyed torturing her so much….I've got half a mind to duct tape her mouth shut and tie her to a tree stump!"_ at long last Sora recognized the familiar doorstep and went on ahead of Kaori, leaving her mid-sentence. He knocked softly on the door and Megumi's father walked into the threshold. His beady eyes lowered down to Sora and his face contorted into a slight scowl.

"…Oh…it's you…. Megumi isn't feeling well today, so you'll have to see her some other time." Sora tried his best to force a smile.

"Actually, I have some homework, so if I could just give it to her." The man blacked Sora's path. The young man could feel ice in his veins.

"I'll give it to her. Do you really think I'd let a boy all alone in a room with my sick daughter? What kind of fool do you take me for?" Sora bit his tongue.

" _A fat beady eyed one one….._ i understand. But Kaori is here with me, so that isn't a problem" the man begrudgingly let the two in once he noticed Kaori standing behind Sora. The two walked into megmi's room and Megumi's father looked Sora dead in the eye "remember. I'm watching you." Sora decided not to respond, and simply walked in. the scene that greeted him was like something out of a fairy book. Everything in Megumi's room was pink. Pink sheets, pink carpet, pink bed draping, pink pillows pink blanket. And of course Megumi herself had pink hair. He looked on for a moment before his eye started to twitch. Then remembered the mission for which he had come. Megumi was lying in her bead, with pajamas on sprawled out above the covers. Sora blushed for a moment, because they were loose fitting, and he thought she might slip out of them when she turned to face the two. She rubbed her eyes as she tried to make out the two figures standing near her. Sora leaned in to give her a hug.

"Hey, heard you weren't feeling well." he smiled warmly at her as he let go. "You feel kinda cold too." She looked back at him with the same warmth he had given her.

"No, I think I'm just sleepy is all….i'm REALLY sleepy for some reason. It's nice to see you though, I almost started to miss you, haha" Sora almost choked when he heard her say that. Megumi looked concerned for him for a moment, and then her eyes peered over to Kaori. Her heart dropped she un enthusiastically greeted Kaori. "Oh….its you. Hey." Kaori started to go on another talking spree but Megumi cut her off. "That's nice….anyway, what brings you here Sora?"

"I just wanted to check on you is all…actually, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions." Both Megumi and Kaori looked at him curiously. "First….tell me what you remember after I dropped you off." Megumi pondered in thought for a moment.

"well…I remember walking home….and on the way I stopped to look at the mansion….i met the little girl who lived there…then I don't remember much else…..i just stumbled home and passed out." Sora's mind went blank. Reality shattered for him when he realized the significance of what she said. Both of the girls could see his face turn ghostly white.

" _S-s-so…..Sunako…..it was Sunako….._ haha….*bleeeghh*" Sora had to reach for the small wastebasket next to Megumi's desk. The two looked on in shock as he violently vomited in it. He was shaking erratically, and his face was still a shade of pale white. " _That means…this is my fault. My. Fault._ " Megumi shakily got up and put her arm around him.

"Hey, you look pretty sick yourself…I hope you didn't catch anything from me" Sora looked at her, the horror of his mistake still eating away at him.

"No. it wasn't you, you should get back into bed, get some rest….. _no way…..I'm not gonna let this happen to you, NO WAY IN HELL!"_ Megumi did as the young man ordered and clambered back into her bed. Sora said his last goodbye as he left her with Kaori. Once Sora returned to the temple he knew what he had to do. Seshin gave him a greeting, but Sora blew him off without a second thought. Sora searched every corner of the temple for the supplies he needed until he had amassed a neat pile of them.

"One Buddha statue…..a crucifix….survival knife…..and…..this…." Sora grimaced as he pulled out a small plank of wood, along with a hammer. "God…..i hope I don't need this" Sora was about to pack all of that stuff and set out when suddenly, Seshin came from behind.

"Hope you don't need what?" Sora nearly jumped ten feet in the opposite direction when Seshin revealed himself. Sora made a pathetic effort to hide all of the artifacts he was using but it was too late, Seshin knew what he had. "This ends now. You are going to tell my why you behave like this. From all of the running around, to the vandalism, now this? What is wrong with you Sora?!" Sora tried his best to explain it to Seshin. But giving up all his secrets were hard, harder than anything he'd ever done.

"We….we need to talk. You might wanna brew some tea because this is going to be one hell of a story" Seshin looked at him oddly, but decided to comply. Once they were both settled Sora began to settle into the final details of the Sotoba tragedy.

"Sotoba…it's doomed. The village and almost everyone in it, all of them are going to die, burned to ash or staked in the heart…..or simply from hemorrhage and anemia. Today is the 12th of august, you have till the 8th of November to prevent this tragedy." Seshin was utterly dumbstruck. The candles flickered as Sora told Seshin what he knew. The amber light casting a haunting glow on the two.

" _Did he say staked in the heart…?_ What kind of absurd story are you trying to tell me" Sora could see the cross look on his face and gave up more details.

"In the coming days, the villagers will start dying one by one; the cause will be a complete mystery. I'm sure Ozaki has already notified you that there have been a few unusually deaths in the last few days alone right?" Seshin's jaw dropped.

"How? How did you know that? Neither of us told anyone about that conversation" Seshin started to shiver. Sora simply sat across from him, a melancholy look flashed across his face.

"Remember when I told you I wasn't from this world? I know you didn't believe me. I appreciate you taking me in regardless of the problems you thought I might have. But I promise you, I'm well adjusted. Every action I took to this point was a preventative measure to stop this tragedy. Though all of it was in vain, because nothing I do seems to work." Seshin was growing more curious by the second.

"Tragedy? What exactly happens?!" Sora braced himself as the man sat in utter shock.

"Vampires….or more accurately, they refer to themselves as shiki…..or at least they will, once Sunako gets wind of your new novel.

"Sunako…..the girl outside of the temple steps yesterday?" Seshin smiled.

"Yep, she's the ringleader. Didn't you find her a bit odd?" Seshin thought for a moment.

"I suppose." Sora moved an inch closer.

"Think carefully. Black eyes, white pale skin, and a "mysterious" illness towards sunlight? Doesn't it seem just a little fishy to you?" Seshin looked on, and seemed a bit shocked.

"But vampires only exist in movies and books! There's no possible way!" Seshin dropped his tea, and it spilt amber splashes all over the temple floor.

"Did you notice how she acted when I "accidentally" cut myself?" Sora smirked.

" _He…hes right. I could see her gnawing on her lip….and It might have been fleeting, but I thought I saw her eyes glow bright red…._ maybe…. _why am I even entertaining such a ridiculous notion?!_...okay, assuming I'll pretend that vampires exist, what do they have to do with Sotoba?" Sora snapped his fingers at Seshin.

"That's the crux of it! Sunako and the family at Kanemasa want to turn every last villager in Sotoba into vampires. They want to make their own settlement here. Sotoba is utterly and totally isolated. No one would notice if even every single person in the village dies!" Sora was hoping against everything that Seshin would find some shred of belief in what he was saying.

"So…what are you suggesting? Are you planning to kill the members of Kanemasa?" Sora bit his lip.

"If I have to. But that's a last resort option. I want you to know something here and now however. Megumi shimizu is under attack from one of the vampires as we speak, she's probably only got two days to live unless I intervene. Remember my words carefully Seshin, vampire or not, I don't care if it means the damnation of every last villager in Sotoba, Megumi will stay safe no matter what. I don't care what I have to do, or who I have to kill to make sure that happens….do you understand?" Seshin shivered when he saw the resolve in Sora's eyes.

"Then why did you tell me this information? If this is true then I could very well end up an obstacle." Seshin said as he backed away from Sora.

"Because, maybe you can make sure the village stay's safe instead of me having to. When I first was dropped into this world, I believed an illusion that I wanted to save everyone, but since Megumi became sick, I've stopped lying to myself. All I care about is her. I'm sure you still don't believe me about the vampires, so I want you to come with me when I stakeout her house tonight." Sora gripped a fist and slammed the wall.

"What do you mean stakeout? Sora looked Seshin dead in the eye.

"I mean, when the vampire that is feeding on Megumi comes to her window, I plan to scare her off…. And if I have to, I'll kill her…..i just want you to know that thinking about it makes me sick, I don't want to hurt anyone unless it is a total last resort… make absolutely sure you don't tell Ozaki about any of this. Get me?"

"About your mental health or the vampires" Seshin said sarcastically.

'Funny….you'll see my point tonight."

"Fine, I'll go along with your plan. But when nothing happens, you are going to get some help for your delusions." Seshin said sternly.

"Oh yeah. One final thing, do we have any masks? It might be bad if anyone saw our faces." Seshin went into a back room and swiftly came out with two red festival masks; they were in the shape of a traditional Japanese demon, tusk like teeth protruding from the top lip

"I guess these will do…. _your certainly right. I wouldn't want the villagers getting wind of this absurd plan and correlating us to it"_ Seshin thought bitterly. So, after a wait, the two left at dusk, arriving in bushed behind Megumi's home, they settled in to their spot, each equipped with a religious artifact in hand.

"So…Seshin, I figure I should tell you about what happens in more detail right?" Seshin looked at him from the far side of the other bush.

"let's just see if this pans out first…. _god knows I don't want to indulge your delusion any further."_  Sora agreed. So the two began to wait.

**A few hours later**

Night had thoroughly set in, the woods around them were pitch dark. The silence was deafening. Only the occasional hum of an insect or distant howl of a dog interrupted the chilling silence. Seshin sat bored out of his mind, and started to drift off to sleep. Sora looked to his compatriot, disheartened but determined nonetheless.

" _jeeze Sei, least you could do is stay awake."_  Sora waited, he waited for what seemed like hours, bored out of his mind. He was tempted to reach into his pocket and play games on his phone, but realized that with no way to charge it, would be wasting a valuable, and limited tool. He waited longer still, staring at Megumi's window as intensely as possible. Hoping, and praying that sunako wouldn't try to sink her claws into her, even if it made him look insane in front of Seshin….sadly his hopes were unfulfilled, because as soon as he completed that thought the bushes on the far side of the property started to rustle, soras eyes immediately darted to the source of the noise. He grabbed seshins shoulder.

"Hey, wake up, its time." He whispered. Seshin groggily got up from his position and rubbed a sore ankle.

"what? Whats time?' Seshin stared at the young man, his vision still a bit blurry.

"see the bushes over there, she's here."

"I'm sure its just a wild animal." The two kept watch and sure enough, a young girl with purple hair crept from the bushes and snuck towards Megumi's window. Seshin stood in complete disbelief in what he was seeing.

"Move Seshin!" Sora tried to whisper as loudly as possible, Seshin whipped into action at Sora's prompting. Just as sunako was nearly complete on the climb up to Megumi's window, Sora threw a well-aimed rock that hit her squarely in the back, causing her to land and yell in pain, and just ass quickly the two masked saviors brought out their artifacts ramming them in her face and shouting. causing her to squeal in utter terror. Both of them could see the red in her eyes, and almost as if an involuntary reaction, her fangs extended as she slithered away back into the bushes. Sora tugged on Seshin as soon as she was well out of sight.

"We'd better get out of here. I'm sure mr shimizu called the cops because of the noise. Sunako won't be back….not tonight at least." Seshin barely responded. He simply had a dumbfounded look on his face as Sora tugged him away from the scene. The two slipped back into the temple and sat down in Sora's room.

"So…..you…you were right. I can't believe it…I don't want to believe it….but I can't deny something I saw with my own eyes…vampires? Shiki? They really are in the village. What are we supposed to do, are they really going to take the place over? How many are there?" Seshin was shaking so hard that he was spilling the glass of water Sora had given him.

"We'll think of a plan alright. Hopefully one that doesn't involve bloodshed….maybe everyone can live peacefully this time."

"This time?" Seshin had a million questions for Sora, but finding the one to ask first was difficult. Finally the young man smiled at Seshin, at put an arm around him.

"There is something you might want to see."

**thanx for reading ^3^ comment/review with any thoughts because i'll always respond to them**


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora enlightens a denying seshin of the situation about to befall sotoba, sunako adapts her plans and natsuno sees something curious outside of a library

**sorry about the delay, but here is the new chapter. ive recently found a full time job with a steady scedule so i should be ableto get back into the swing of uploading soo, but for the next month it might be a bit sporadic...and reverse nature...welll, im not sure when ill update it...**

Sunako rushed into the mansion as fast as her small legs could carry her, she was yelling for the residents to appear as quickly as they could, however, only Tatsumi was present to answer her summons.

"WE HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM!" she yelled shrilly at the blue haired jinrou. Tatsumi was twisting a finger in his ear when he casually turned to sunako.

"What sort of problem?" he asked nonchalantly. Sunako was pacing back and forth, tears beading up in her eyes.

"They found us out!" Tatsumi leapt from the couch he was sitting on and stuck his landing mere inches from the vampire girl.

"What do you mean? What happened? Sunako explained what had transpired at the shimizu residence, how she was nearly about to feed on her new prey, but two masked villagers stopped her and scared her away with religious artifacts. Sunako's heart would have been beating out of her chest if it still worked, but only the chilling silence of her mind held her growing fear. She clawed at her dress in a fit of stress but Tatsumi still seemed to keep up his calm façade, though he could feel fear's icy grip rear itself in the back of his mind.

"Where is chizuru? Is she safe?" sunako pleaded with fate that the buxom vampiress who had been her constant companion for the last fifty years was out of harm's way. Tatsumi griped a fist and bit his lower lip as he moved to the window.

"She's out feeding…..i don't see anything out of the ordinary happening in the village at the moment…so I'm sure she's fine….but my only question…..why didn't those two kill you? That's the general reaction when people find out what we are." Tatsumi said matter of factly. The scene he was greeted with was a peaceful one. There were only a few dim lights burning in the village sprawled out across the hill, and no one seemed to even be walking the streets. Tatsumi's enhanced senses were quite a gift, but even when he focused as hard as he could, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Sotoba was literally a sleepy village, and no one was rioting at the mansion gates. He sighed and stooped down to sunako's height.

"I don't think they plan to attack us….why would they need to wear masks if the whole village was on their side? I think that by some astronomical means, its just two people who know about us…..they were probably close to that girl and recognized the signs of our activity….and they didn't try to kill you….. That's the knee jerk reaction most people have" sunako looked up curiously at Tatsumi.

"That….that's a smart observation, I never had you pegged as a tactician" Tatsumi smiled at the praise sunako had bestowed upon him. 'There is still the matter of that girl….the hypnosis will wear off in a few days and she could reveal my true nature." Tatsumi smirked maliciously.

"Don't worry about her. I'll take care of it" he laughed as sunako left the mansion, eager to feed on her next doomed soul.

**Meanwhile**

Seshin was still shaking, unable to wrap his mind around the prior events. Sora was busy in the corner and brandished a small square device with a glass screen. Connected to it was a pair of white earbuds, stained yellow from exposure to the pollen and dust floating around Sotoba. Seshin glanced over to Sora as he was tapping the screen. Small plinking noises could be heard as Sora flicked and prodded at the screen. Seshin glanced over curiously as the young man walked over to him.

" _it's that strange gadget Sora showed me when we first met…..i don't think something like it is outside of the realm of possibility….but it certainly lends points to his credibility…._ sora? why are you playing with that thing, I don't need my picture taken.." Sora laughed briefly at the monk. Then he took one of the earpieces and handed it to Seshin.

"Be careful with this; put the soft end into your right ear. If you need to take a shit, do it now. You and I are gonna be in this same spot for the next 12 hours" Seshin took notice of the screen and read the logo.

"Shiki….is this about my novel?" Sora sighed and turned to face the monk.

"Seshin…..you need to prepare for your reality to become utterly shattered." Sora licked his thumb and pinched out the candle flames. After a moment of buffering, the first episode of shiki started to play on the phone. Sora looked at it with regret and disdain.

"Hmm? So this can record too? ….wait why are they looking for Megumi? Is this some kind of school project you did?" Sora scratched his chin.

"I'm just going to show you this first bit before I say anything. Once it's over then you can ask your questions." Seshin could tell Sora was biting back on something.

"You even put a theme song in this? You really have talented video skills, where did you get the resources to do this stuff?" Seshin said, though the denial plastered all over his face was a dead giveaway. Sora knew Seshin's mind was desperately clinging onto whatever it could so it didn't have to face the truth of the situation.

"well…I never knew Megumi held such disdain from the village….or that she was spying on Natsuno" Seshin said as he observed the events unfold, Sora was uncomfortable close to Seshin, but the cord on his earbuds were short, so he couldn't get much distance even if he tried. He sat quietly as the story persisted.

"Hmm, that blue haired man lives in Kanemasa right? I'm surprised I didn't hear about him honking the bar woman up….you really need to tell me how you got these shots, they are great!" Seshin said bleakly, he tried to force emotion and believability into his observations, but each word was choked and muffled, something seemed to catch in his throat, almost as if he were on the verge of sobbing. Sora put a palm to his forehead.

"For god's sake Seshin. Straight up denial of the truth right in front of you won't make it go away." Sora said bitterly.

"What denial?" he said coldly. Sora grabbed him by the scruff.

"DON'T YOU GET IT?! You're living in a story! Or at least… Ithought as much, until I was dropped into it myself." Sora tried to hold back tears of his own. Seshin was still scratching his head in disbelief. Sora could almost  **feel**  the desperation emanating from every pore in his body. An unfathomable despair hung in the air around the two. Sora paused for a long time, the silence of the small room was deafening…

"a story…then my life truly is meaningless isn't it." He bit his lip. Sora felt a knot tie in his stomach, the guilt for shattering the monk's reality was eating away at him instantly. Seshin laughed in disbelief.

"Sorry I had to pull you out of the matrix like that…but well…..its not a story…. At least not anymore. When I came here I found out things about people I never thought I could, you all aren't just autonomous robots that do whatever a writer tells you, you have lives and feelings of your own! Your destiny is yours to command!" Seshin laughed hysterically when Sora told him about destiny.

"You think so? Even if its not a story, I'm still stuck here, I have no freedom, no one in Sotoba does. We're all just forced to play the roles were assigned; we have to act and behave in the ways they tell us to. So even if its not a story, we're all still in a cage within a cage.' Sora reached over to the monk, defiance glowing in his eyes.

"When I was dropped into this world I thought I could change everything, but now I would be happy if I could change anything…..but there is one thing I can promise you. even if it kills me, I will break the bonds of despair that hold Sotoba… _and I'll save Megumi no matter what the cost…._ anyway, this is the story of what happens to Sotoba, sans my intervention of course. So things in the world should already be different than in the first run. I'm showing you this so you can get familiar with the tragedies that  **might** occur. And I have a feeling that they will still be similar."

"Why do you think they would happen similarly?" Seshin asked bleakly.

"I don't know this for sure….but I think the universe is resistant to change, like when I prevented Megumi from going into Kanemasa, normally chizuru would have killed her. But sunako seems to have her grasp on her in this iteration of your universe. I don't think its outright Impossible to change the outcome of things, but I doubt how easy it will be."

"So can you prevent anything?" Seshin took a long sip from his tea, letting the warmth of the liquid fill him, he let out a sigh of relacation as he processed the information given to him.

"I'm sure I can, and if not I'll die trying." He said defiantly. "Either way, you need to finish this story; it will take us several hours, hours longer to discuss everything." And with that the two resigned themselves to the small screen.

**the next morning**

Natsuno walked along the path with Tohru. Tohru was, as usual trying to strike up a friendly conversation with him, and Natsuno was blowing him off, rarely giving him anything more than a two word answer.

"Come on Mr. grumpy pants, shimizu isn't spying on you anymore, so why are you still so absentminded?" Natsuno sighed.

'how many times do I have to tell you that I shouldn't be making friends, it just gonna get hard to leave the village." He snorted. Tohru smiled. A large grin Natsuno couldn't help but smirk back at.

"You know, your parents moved here for nature and peace, things like that. You should give them the benefit of the doubt, you might end up liking it here." He put his arm around Natsuno's shoulder.

" _That's what I'm afraid of…._ i hate it here….you wouldn't understand why, so I'd prefer if you wouldn't talk about it alright." Tohru looked sullen.

"The people here might have their flaws, but still. They are kind at heart, even if they can be misguided. They just do what they think is right." Natsuno looked at him fondly.

"Whatever…what they think is wright is wrong…..its objectively wrong. Everyone everywhere who's opinion is different than mine is objectively wrong" He said, half a smirk cracked across his face

"Are you just bullshitting me? It's rare you make jokes….is there anything else I can do to cheer you up, you can actually be kinda funny sometimes." Natsuno thought for a moment.

"No…I guess I'm feeling okay…. Don't worry about it." Tohru looked at him with a smug expression.

"You don't want anything? Nothing at all….what about….a kiss?" Tohru make a kissing noise as he crept closer to Natsuno. Natsuno shivered as Tohru put a hand on his back, the next instinct Natsuno had was to flip the boy. So in an instant Tohru was on the ground in front of him gasping for air amongst the dust.

"Not cool man!" Natsuno was spitting fire at the young man squirming on the ground.

"d-did you have to flip me like that? I was just joking" Tohru gasped.

"Hey, you knew what you were getting into when you tried to mess with me, its your own fault that this happened" Tohru couldn't help but smile at Natsuno, even despite the pain in his back.

"We better get to the library" Tohru laughed.

The two walked the long path around Sotoba. The many roads and paths all seemed to blend into the web of the village. Tohru had no problems navigating them and even Natsuno was starting to learn where all of them led. After a year in that backwater village, he started to feel fond of it. After fifteen minutes of walking they saw the library on the hill. Both of them were drenched in sweat so the building was a sight for sore eyes. Natsuno looked around the area before he walked inside. Far in the distance he thought he could make out the shape of a figure with pink hair. He looked closer and sure enough Megumi was walking along a different path. But she was accompanied by two people. A woman with short red har….and a large man with blue.

" _Hmm, is she cheating on Sora?"_

"Hey Natsuno, come on, is nice and cool in here!" Natsuno shouted a response back to Tohru before he rushed inside, not paying Megumi another thought.

**Meanwhile**

"You might belong here but I don't! I deserve better that this! Agh!" Sora was looking away from the screen the entire time as Seshin finished up the last part of the series. He paused for a length of time. The two sat in utter silence.

"i…..i see….so….that's what happens to Sotoba. Vampires…. Toshio drifting into insanity…. And even Megumi… There's so much here….what am I even supposed to make of this?" Sora was desperately fighting off the urge to sleep.

"Make of it whatever you want, I'm only showing you this so you might be able to figure out how to help the village. Like I said, saving Megumi is my priority at the moment. But I don't want the village to burn if it doesn't have to….also, I certainly hope this validates my actions and motives." Sora said smugly.

"Yeah….i don't blame you for what you have done, though it might not have been what I myself would have….i can see the reasoning….but I do have one question." Seshin said, trying to fight off sleep himself.

"Shoot."

"When you slit your hand to lure out Sunako…..what would you have done if she had succumbed to the temptation?" Sora looked at him strangely.

"i…. I'm not sure…I just wanted to expose her. And I got caught up in the heat of the moment….i guess ironically I fell for my own temptation and Megumi got hurt because of it…I suppose if she had attacked us we'd have no choice but to kill her…" Sora sighed. "Even though sunako is a monster, I would still rather find a peaceful solution." Seshin looked at him slightly crossly.

"Just because she was a vampire didn't make her a monster. She just seems lonely and she's only trying to fight for her life." Sora slammed his fist into the wall. He glared at Seshin. Seshin backed up an inch, he could feel a pang of fear creep into his mind.

"Being a vampire doesn't make you a monster. Your actions do. She hopelessly clinged onto life trying to destroy an entire village just to have her own family, and then when shit hit the fan, sent them all to die. She had a family in Kanemasa. But she got greedy. All of them did, they thought their only course of action was to kill and that there was no other way around it. Humans and shiki might be animals….but the reason we are so impressive is because we have the power to defy our nature, shiki can do the same, even if they have been forsaken by god" Seshin bit his thumb.

"But….they are forsaken right? They are abandoned and cast into darkness. Should we even help them? Is it morally right?." Sora got up from his seat and walked to the threshold of the door, the light shone in brightly into the room, and just before he left, he turned to Seshin.

"Morals? God? Screw them. Listen to my words carefully Seshin… any god that would abandon his people, especially for something the cant help…well, he's not worth listening to. So don't worry about angering him." And with those last words, the two split up for the day. Both of them were tired, and they needed to find.

Sora made his way to the small room he had been assigned to sleep in, it wasn't much more than a broom closet but it was his own. He laid his head down on the futon and instantly slipped into a dream.

" _Gotta get plenty of rest today, sunako will surely try to attack Megumi again, and who knows what kind of friends she might bring with her….I'll need to be prepared."_ Sora slept as soundly as he could, though the occasional nightmare would rouse him, he always managed to find himself back asleep. And when dusk finally arrived Sora knew what his mission was, and he followed it diligently.

He sat for a long time in the bushes outside of megumis window. But much to his surprise even after several hours, no one so much as rustled in the forest behind him nothing was out of place, and the night was peaceful andsora grew relaxed. As soon as the sun broke across the trees he felt confident enough to leave. He set back to the temple and nestled in resting for the job he had done well.

**Meanwhile**

Ozaki brandished a cigarette as he examined the body. A pair of peoplewere crying in the backround.

"I I don't know what to say….i thought for sure we could wait until the results from the blood test results came back! It was just a case of anemia, but in one day, she dropped into critical condition…Megumi shimizu, time of death….1:30 am"

**im sure you have lots of questions about megumi, but don't qorry, i'll do a section from her perspective later**


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a look into megumi's final moments, sora grieves, then the young man gets an idea

**hey guys, i told you i'd be able to upload more regularly now, hope you enjoy the story, as for reverse nature, ill start updating it again once i get burnt out on ttf, but were really getting into the thick fo the story now so i may end up finishing this story before i update reverse nature again, well just have to see where the wind blows**

A spark of light came into view as Megumi's eyes slowly opened, halfway at first, a quick flinch as they adjusted to the glare, slowly her vision cleared and she rose groggily with a quick yawn. She popped one of the joints in her arm and walked over to the mirror.

"I look terrible…..what a weird dream, that little girl from the mansion, she was fabulous! Still something seemed off….probably because I got sick….i guess illness causes nightmares or something…..oh! I should pay Sora a visit, he was worried sick about me!" Megumi stammered across her room, trying to find balance that wouldn't seem to correct itself. Her legs felt a bit weak but they soon adjusted to her upright position. She felt a cold chill crawl up her spine as she searched through her scattered pile of clothes. She found a low cut dress that she thought looked perfect and preceded to waltz out of her home. Little did she know, that two pairs of malicious eyes tracked her every movement from afar. Megumi had to shield her eyes from the light that day. For some reason the sun had seemed much more oppressive since she first fell ill. The light that once warmed her back now seared it.

"I  _want to find some shade….i wish I took my parasol with me today"_ she kept walking aimlessly towards the temple steps when she heard a voice from behind ask for her.

"Hey! Girl in the pink dress!" she turned to see an enormous man with blue hair and chiseled muscles walk up to her. A short woman with red hair followed closely behind. She thought something curious to herself before responding to their inquiry.

"Yeah? What do you want?"

"My name is Tatsumi, and this is yoshie, we work up at the kirashiki mansion." Megumi's heart skipped a beat.

"Really? What's it like?! I've always wanted to live in such a beautiful house! I meant to visit it the other day but I got distracted with something!" the two shared a laugh. But Megumi noticed that they laughed a little…too…hard. "Did I say something funny?" she said, her face turning flush red.

"Not at all!" Tatsumi bowed his head vigorously. Making many exaggerated hand motions. "its just so nice that the people here are welcoming!" Megumi could feel a lump in her throat.

"That's surprising, I figured you would be pissed about your house getting wrecked" Tatsumi raised an eyebrow.

"It meant I got an extra week off of work so I don't mind at all!" he flashed Megumi a wolfish grin. Megumi smiled back tepidly, intimidated by the large man standing in front of her

"You should thank my boyfriend then. He just got it in his mind one day to do it for some reason, though don't worry. I punished him for it hahahaha!" she laughed haughtily, unaware of the fist tatsum was baling behind his back.

"well anyway, I was wondering if you could show us where the café is, me and yoshie over here were looking for a nice romantic spot to spend the day, weren't we…. **honey**." Tatsumi said snidely, yoshie only slammed a fist hard into his ribs, Megumi heard loud crack, but the sound was fleeting so she decided not to dwell on it. Instead she simply laughed with the woman as Tatsumi grabbed his side in pain.

"What my lumbering assistant meant to say is that the kirishiki family, our employers, wanted to know where it was so they could visit it. They want to try local food." She said calmly. Megumi smiled.

"I guess I can show you, I go all the time." So the trio walked ahead. They passed several buildings, including a bank and a library. Everything in Sotoba had the same grey paint, and green roofing. Megumi scoffed at hom similarly everything looked. She thought that surely in the city all of the buildings would be different and unique. How she longed to escape Sotoba, how she longed to escape the prying eyes and judging expressions….but for now all she could do was bide her time until that fateful day came.

The three walked in silence as they came upon a deserted street. No one was in sight. The two behind her seemed to be looking around. If Megumi didn't know any better she would have assumed they were scanning the area. She started to grow tense about the situation, and decided to break off the party they had formed.

"well….the café is up the road a ways, just turn left and it's the third building. I have to go, but I hope you find it well." she said, trying to force a nervous smile. With that she started to pace away from them, but in the next instant felt a hand slip over her mouth. The shock only lasted for a moment before she bit hard into the attacker, drawing blood. Her survival insticts had kicked in so fiercely that she didn't notice the pair of ivory fangs extending towards her neck. In an eerily familiar sensation she dropped to the floor.

"Damned bitch bit me!" Tatsumi yelled. "not to mention you breaking three of my ribs earlier, I just cant escape pain today…"

"You had better ask her what you needed to know before I finish her off." Yoshie said sternly. Tatsumi sighed.

"Alright….who was the one who destroyed our mansion?" Megumi slowly regained consciousness, she spoke in a medicated tone of voice.

"It was Sora…my new boyfriend…" Tatsumi put a hand to his face. With an irritated sigh he probed further.

"tell me about him. What does he look like, where is he usually at? Any information you know." Megumi turned her head and looked off blankly in the other direction.

"he works and lives at the temple…..he has medium length brown hair, and two freckles on his left cheek…he also has grey eyes, he usually wears a black hoodie over a white undershirt, along with jeans and tennis shoes…..not exactly the pinnacle of fashion." She said, a bit of her snide humor leaking through her weakened demeanor. As for where he goes…unless its with me, he usually only goes to school. Otherwise he stays in the temple." Tatsumi seemed satisfied.

"It might be hard to attack this guy in broad daylight… though I'm sure he will slip up eventually. I kinda feel bad for him, he had no idea what he got himself into, but he's sure going to suffer dire consequences… _ive never seen sunako act like that….to think a small child could make me feel fear…."_ Yoshie calmly replied.

"No one will stand in the way of our home…." With that she extended a pair of her own fangs and buried them into Megumi's neck. The girl let out a small whimper before succumbing to anemia, lying unconscious on the cold pavement beneath her.

"Are you sure it was wise to just kill her like that?" yoshie looked at tatsumi with a snide smile.

"I didn't take enough blood to kill her outright, right here, but it should take its toll in a few hours. No one can survive long with hemorrhaging like this." Tatsumi returned that same sick smile.

"We should peel out of here before someone sees us."

**Later.**

"Hey Megumi!" Megumi couldn't find her senses. A blurry image sprawled before her as she laid motionless. The lights and shadows in her room seemed to flutter and dance around her. She tried to turn her head to listen to a barely audible voice to her side, but every muscle screamed in pain at the slightest motion. She was so weak that she couldn't lift her eyelids, let alone position herself.

"wha?" she whispered. Kaori leaned into view, noticing the struggle Megumi semed to have when she moved.

"I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried when I found you passed out! Some of the villagers carried you back here.." Megumi drifted in and out of consciousness as the girl spoke.

" _Passed out?_ …..i met the kirashiki employees….i showed them the café…they were fabulous….truly…oh yeah….i have to go see Sora. He was worried about me." Megumi smiled meekly. She started to dream in her delirium. The young man was standing mere feet from he, and he seemed to give off a warm glow. He took her hand. Then her world faded to black.

"Megumi? i….i guess you were tired." Kaori smiled and placed a good luck charm I'm Megumi's hand.

" _Sora was so worried…I don't want to make him fret…I'll see you soon Sora, don't worry about me…I'll….be….fine…"_

_**The next day** _

Sora dropped the plate he was holding. It sent alabaster splinters in all directions as the noise echoed in the silence. He couldn't even form words to respond to Seshin.

"She died last night….sometime around early morning…critical organ failure…from what Ozaki said to me, it was peaceful." Sora fell to his knees. Tears started to pour down his face. He had to fight the urge to sob as he spoke back to Seshin.

"How? How did this happen?! I was there…..i was right outside of her window! I didn't see anyone go in! How the hell did she die?!" Sora screamed as he slammed a fist into the floor. He was so overwhelmed that he didn't notice the pain in his knuckles.

"I'm not entirely sure… I wish I could say something that would make it better for you…" Seshin's eyes started to glisten and tears were forming in his eyes too. "I can't even imagine what this feels like… her funeral is tomorrow."

"…fate really is against me isn't it...i tried to save her….and it just took her anyway. there was nothing I could do about it…there is nothing I can do about anything….im just worthless aren't i…..i'm stuck in a world I can't alter, and on top of that, there isn't anything here for me anymore…the god of this world truly is cruel…as if one tragedy wasn't enough for him, he had to ruin MY existence too, not to mention shoving all of you through it again…" Seshin felt a pang of guilt as Sora berated the world and his position in it.

"She'll rise though wont she? So she isn't gone forever. You could still change the world." Sora looked at Seshin grimly.

"So what…..she rises and gets killed in some other horrible way in a couple of months anyway? Sure she won't get crushed by tractors, but if not that then what? Are the villagers going to mob her and cut off all her limbs with garden tools? Hell, maybe they'll force themselves on her and let her evaporate in the daylight once they've had their fun. It's just a matter of time. And its totally inevitable. I'm sure it is. I really am like I am in my dreams…only here its worse because I have the illusion of control." Seshin was calm. So calm it made Sora angry. "cat got your tongue?"

"Sora…..you can change things, even still I'm sure you can! You got Megumi to stop her infatuation with Natsuno didn't you? that's something at least, and from what you showed me, it was a key motivator in her actions. She won't kill Tohru now and that won't set Natsuno against the shiki. Ozaki will probably fail in his attempts to expose them if Natsuno won't help him." Sora sighed.

"Maybe…nothing will work though. Its still going to happen anyway…" Seshin sighed.

"Don't stop fighting." He said stoically.

"Why? What's the point of dragging it out?" Sora said despondently.

"You're stuck here anyway right? Why not fight fate as hard as you can anyway, in the hopes that you might be able to make some slim change…maybe you cant get exactly what you want, but you might make things better. If you can't save Megumi then maybe her final death might be more peaceful and happy." Sora slammed his fist into the ground again.

"Are you really suggesting that I try to fight for her to die peacefully as opposed to brutally?" Seshin sighed.

"No, by all means try to save her. I'm just saying….you might be able to make the outcome of this world better, even if its just by a modicum."

"You really have a morbid way of motivating people, Seshin…I'm going to my room…. Wake me when its time for her wake.

**The next morning**

Sora stared emptily at the ground. The sound of ceremonial music played in the background as villagers dressed in black shambled aimlessly around him. He caught bits of gossip and talk of Megumi on the wind, normally this sort of thing would have angered him, but at the moment all he could muster was apathy. He had lost all feeling for a while. The sun might have been shining brightly, but Sora felt as cold and forlorn as a stormy day.

"Sora?" he didn't respond.

"its me Kaori… I need to talk with you." she said through broken sobs. She noticed the black bags under Sora's eyes as he stared at her.

"what." He said bitterly.

"I was looking at Megumi's things…..and I found this." She motioned for Sora to extend his hand, and she handed him a small postcard. It was mostly blue and had a few penguins drawn on it, and a message was scribbled onto the surface.

"… _I guess she really did love me…this was the card that she would normally give to Natsuno. I wonder when she had time to pick it up?_ Thanks I guess." He was about to continue sulking when Kaori started to cry more heavily.

"It… it really means a lot that you came here." With that, Kaori ran in the other direction. Sora sighed as he looked over the postcard. He could barely read the japan ese but he put together a rough translation in his mind.

" _Hey Sora! Remember when I slipped out for a moment while we were on our date? I decided to pick up this little present for you. I know it isn't much, but I wanted to let you know how I really feel. It's kinda awkward telling you in person so I think this would be best, ya know? Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how happy you make me. I've always hated this place, ever since I can remember I've wanted nothing more than to escape to somewhere I belong. And that place just isn't Sotoba. Before you came here every day seemed to drag on into eternity. Life was grey, and no matter what I did nothing made it seem any less bleak. But I met you that day. And then everything changed. Even when I didn't know I liked you, for some reason I felt happier, like I could face the day with a smile instead of with dread. You've made these last few weeks the best of my life, and I wanted to truly thank you from the bottom of my heart. I don't know how romance works very well, but do know I want to spend lots of time with you. actually…I want to spend_ _ **all**_ _of my time with you…I can't wait for the fun memories that we will make together!"_ in that moment the world was silent to Sora. The only sounds he heard where the drips of tears falling on to the paper. He moved it out of the way before his crying turned into full on sobs. He hustled into a far corner where no one could see him and began to sob his eyes out. It seemed like he would stay like that forever, his life was just a dark tunnel, and he was far, far away from any light. After his emotional outpour was finished, an idea popped into his head. He walked over to Seshin, who was performing last rights on Megumi's body. He leaned into his ear.

"Sei….i need a pen." Seshin turned his direction.

'What for?"

"This" he handed Seshin the card.

"….this is such a sweet note, why would you ruin it?" Sora looked crossly.

"I wasn't planning to write over it, I was going to use the back…I thought of something. I'll leave her a message. If she rises then she will see it. Seshin looked fondly at the young man.

"That's…..actually a really good idea." He handed Sora a small pen and he set to work.

"I can't write anything complex, but some basic instructions and an explanation I could manage" he said quietly. After he was finished with his note he handed the card to Seshin. 'Slip this in with her; make sure its something that she'll see immediately. I'd imagine she'll freak out when she rises, so I want this to calm her down." Seshin nodded and Sora walked away. He had mingled across the way until he was almost outside when a voice greeted him.

"hey, this is such a sad occasion huh." He turned to see a large man with blue hair standing just beyond the doors threshold.

" _Tatsumi?! I was wondering if our paths would cross…honestly he was one obstacle I was hoping to avoid entirely…._ yeah, funerals usually are." Sora said bleakly.

"Did you know her well?" he asked, half smiling.

" _Sadistic fuck…..you're probably eating this up aren't you…_  yeah, she was my girlfriend." Yatsumi could barely hold off from laughing hysterically. He had to catch his breath before faking sadness.

"Oh, that sucks. Sorry man." He said with faux guilt. Sora clenched a fist.

" _You're lucky you can lift a car otherwise I'd beat your ass right here…_ don't worry about it, not your problem." He smiled.

"anyway, my name is Tatsumi, I work at the kirashiki house, maybe we could hang out sometime, I'm new here and you look like you could use a friend, where do you live, I could drop by for a drink or something." Sora backed away.

"I live at the temple…take a raincheck on that drink, I'm a busy guy." He frowned.

"can I at least drop by for like a second?" he pressed his hands together in a bowing motion.

"  _if you are fishing for an invitation than forget it…_ look, I'm not really the social type, so forget about it man." Sora walked away, leaving Tatsumi.

" _hmm, if I cant get to you like that then I guess I'll just have to figure something else out._ " tatsumi said as he glared at sora.

**well there you have it, if you were wondering why sora invited sunako into the temple but not tatsumi, jinrou arent afrad of religious things but shiki are, he wanted to fuck with sunako because she posed no threat, tatsumi however...anyway comment review ect ect hope you enjoyeed**


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tohru and natsuno try to help sora in his grief, and masao pays a visit

**not sure if the story is halfway over, or a third over... but whatever, hope it fills the void shiki filled in your heart(jeeze when you upload frequently it gets hard to think of material for these authors notes...but i feel compelled to write them anyway)**

Sora could hear them. He could hear the villagers talking about her, he sat away from them, as far away as he could, but he could still hear their voices. Like scratches on a chalk board. They weren't overly loud, but they weren't quiet. Almost muffled. And that was what bothered him. Just far enough away to keep his ears from ringing just close enough that he might be able to make out what they say. He MIGHT be able. So his mind started to wander. A statement as simple as "she was such an odd girl" he could easily mishear, and with the state of mind he was in…..the things he imagined were probably far worse than what the villagers said. He noticed Kaori sitting in a row farther up where the body was being lowered.

" _I wonder what she thinks…..surely she must be able to hear them better, the look on her face says that what they say isn't pleasant at all, not that the villagers don't have any fair points, but it still makes me angry when they talk about her like that…she wasn't hurting anybody…well not anymore at least... I almost feel bad for Kaori…. Megumi never did like her, but she clung onto that friendship with dear life. I guess Sotoba is taking its toll on her too. She must be just as lonely as Megumi…no…probably not so much, after all, she has her brother. Megumi didn't have anyone. Not that there weren't opportunities, but I can't really blame her for being too prideful to take them. After all, I probably would have done the same….i don't know if I should hope for you to rise, based on the note it didn't seem that you had many regrets, at least not anymore. If you do rise then I'll do what I can to save the vampires, but if not then I guess I'll have no other choice…maybe I should just kill myself….i could always pray to leave here, but I doubt the powers that be would let me, after all"_ he thought In a sarcastic tone"  _I wanted to save this world sooo much….i made my bed, and I have to lie in it….i just hope that doesn't entail a bathtub full of blood, or a bullet in my skull. What would be the easiest way to go? Maybe I could just offer myself up to Sunako, surely loss of blood can't be that bad….but then again I might rise."_ That thought shattered him. " _wait…I never even thought about that! What if I rise? What if even if Megumi lives I turn into a shiki?! No…I'm not from this world…whatever magic governs it is probably beyond my grasp…I don't think I'll rise"_

Sora continued with his train of thought until the service was over. Solemnly he got into the car with Seshin. He remembered his conversation with Tatsumi.

"Hey Seshin, you remember Tatsumi and yoshie right?" Seshin looked curious.

"Yeah, why?" he laughed.

"Make sure you never let either into the temple, tell the patrons to keep them away too…..i talked with Tatsumi today, and he seemed to be mining me for an invitation. Id rather not wake up with anemia… if you catch my drift." Seshin was concerned for Sora. He seemed stable, even with megumi's apparent passing; sure she might rise, but…..

" _Is that a fate worse than death? Sora…I worry for you"_

The next day was a grey blur. Sora couldn't hold on to a thought…at least anything that didn't have to do with Megumi. He'd refused food Seshin offered to him on every occasion. Normally the young man had a healthy appetite, and with all of his temple work, never refused a meal. Sora just sat there. He always had a tendency to overthink things…..no….overshoot was a better word. The perfect plan would always reveal itself to him, or so it seemed at the time, but usually in his pride, he would miss some slight oversight, and when you played with lives a "slight oversight" meant cataclysmic failure. Utter and total failure….Sora was already getting used to the taste…..as he sat there, out of his mind, he heard a knock at the door.

"Damn it Seshin I'm not hungry, just leave me the fuck alone…" he said bitterly.

"Hey." A familiar voice said. Very precise. To the point.

"Natsuno? Look I don't wanna bother with you right now, come back another time." He thought he heard him mutter "whatever" after he spat at him. But then another voice gripped his ears.

"Hey….Sora, come on out. We know how you felt about Shimizu….you can't keep those feelings bound up inside….come and stay over with us, it might do you some good to hang out with friends." It was Tohru's voice. He sounded a little sad himself, Natsuno however sounded as he always did. A voice that said "I can't be bothered with you, leave me peasant". Sora had always wanted to deck him, even before he was dropped in sotoba. Something about his voice just got under his skin…..for the strangest reason however, it almost comforted him today. Tohru he always liked, there was never a question about it. But he never thought he could associate a pleasant thought with Natsuno. On a whim he decided to open the door.

Tohru and Natsuno had to suppress a gasp. Sora looked utterly bedraggled. His normal neat brown hair was in a fray even messier than Natsuno's. And his eyes….his eyes were bloodshot, and there were thick black bags hanging under them. At first glance one could easily assume he had been fighting. Nothing like that had been happening, at least not physically. He smelled too. They could see sweat stains on the wifebeater that Sora wore loosely, he even had a few spikes of facial hair pushing through his chin, Natsuno had to rub his nose when the smell of body odor and depression hit him.

"Jeeze! You've seen better days... Take a shower and come with us.." Tohru said and he smiled as he looked to Sora. Sora nodded blankly and headed to the temple's washroom. After a long shower he strambled out. His skin was red and blisters were starting to peak on his foot, souvenirs of spending too much time in a broiling hot bath. He had intended to wait the two out, but they were persistent in their efforts.

Sora lagged behind the two as they made pace to Tohru's house, unable to summon the effort to even walk fast, both of them had to slow down to keep pace with him. A question gnawed at soras mind. And after a long awkward silence he decided to speak. In a low quiet…defeated…..voice.

"Why are you guy's bothering with me anyway? You weren't close to megumi, so why do you care?" Tohru sighed and put a hand on Sora's back.

"We're close to you aren't we? If I was in the position you're in, well….i'd hope my friends would do something to cheer me up, even if it was just a little. So just stick with us and try to have fun" he beamed. And Sora couldn't help feeling touched by their kindness. Then he thought about Tohru saying "friends" and looked to Natsuno.

" _Are we? If it comes to it, you and I might not be on the same sides of the shiki debate"_

After a while they reached Tohru's home. The three navigated the corridor until they swung into Tohru's room. Bookshelves electronics and all kinds of manga dotted the walls, along with a formidable collection of posters.. Sora couldn't help but marvel at the décor. Natsuno too seemed a bit moved.

" _jeeze this puts my broom closet to shame…I sorta miss my old apartment, but no sense dwelling on the homeworld"_ it was true, Sora's temple room was bare. In fact, utterly empty. The only thing it was a futon that Sora slept in. Sora never was much of a decorator but his old room had at least SOME things. Most notably new game systems, and an aquarium, the latter of which Sora thought about. " _I wonder what became of my fish…not that I miss that place….and there is still the distinct possibility that I'm dreaming all of this in a medically induced coma, but still, they can't go forever without food….no…my neighbor had a key, so I'm sure when I turned up missing she started feeding them for me….i wonder if anyone misses me….i didn't really have any family left, and most of my old friends were too drunk or high to really give a shit about anything….still… I'd have to say I definitely like it here better."_ Sora thought about the coma theory…." _no I couldn't be, I can taste smell and feel pain…I'm definitely here"_ Sora sat on the bed next to Natsuno while Tohru hooked up two of his extra dreamcast controllers.

"I recall you telling me that you were really good at video games….the first time we met in fact, lets test your theory! Natsuno, you should totally play too!" Tohru said with that same goofy grin. Natsuno raised a hand.

"No thanks." He said flatly. And pulled a manga out of his backpack, he began to read while Sora fixed his gaze on him for a brief moment. In a split second Sora returned his attention to Tohru.

"Sure, hope you don't cry when I beat you…what game are we playing anyway?" Tohru smirked.

"This one. Sonic adventure two. It's the newest game I have." Sora almost creamed in his pants. That game was his absolute favorite as a child. He spent countless hours playing it on the old gamecube with his friends, he especially liked the parts of the game where you raised these little creatures called chao. Even for an old game that pet system was extremely complex. You had to venture through the games levels and stages, and on occasion you would find small creatures and powerups that you could feed to them, each subsequent feeding would alter their appearance. Tohru noticed the drool on Sora's chin.

"I see you like this game?" Tohru asked tentatively.

"*drools* I have been known to like these types of games yes…" that was the biggest understatement Sora had ever told before or since. And in a moment Tohru booted the game up. Sora lost himself in the throws of nostalgia as the two took turns playing, and true to his word Sora utterly surpassed Tohru at every opportunity, though this had more to do with muscle memory, and less to do with actual gaming skill. What the two didn't notice is Natsuno eyeing them jealously, every second he burned just a little bit hotter with it. Sora sensed a change in the air after about an hour of playing and on a whim decided to turn to Natsuno.

"Hey man, you shouldn't just sit there, you can play too" he said kindly. This caught Natsuno off guard and that jealousy evaporated, leaving only surprise in its place. He half expected Tohru to offer it to him, but it was Sora instead, and it caught Natsuno off guard. "I wouldn't want to get inbetween lovers after all." He said snidely. Tohru couldn't help but laugh hysterically. He was howling at the joke, but Natsuno didn't show much response. He simply thanked Sora and took the controller.

"So how do you work this?" he asked Tohru as Sora sat in the spot Natsuno was in and started to read the manga Natsuno had.

" _Damn…Natsuno is into some pretty racy stuff…this looks almost…..gay…."_ Sora was right after all. The cover was of two large well-muscled men, probably superheroes or something, in tight costumes…he couldn't recall seeing a single female in the length of the book he flipped through and after giving it a puzzled look, set it aside carefully. He returned his attention to the two gaming, Natsuno was having obvious trouble with the game and Sora thought it was almost cute the way Tohru tried to coach him.

" _They really are good friends….maybe I should expand my efforts to people besides Megumi….these two after all don't really deserve what happens…Tohru doesn't at least."_ Sora's train of thought was interrupted by a door slamming open and a screeching voice penetrating the room.

"Tohru!" a thin lanky teenager with a tight pint up face bug eyes and fat lips burst into the room. Sora thought he looked almost gaunt in the pale light of the room and in a second his heart sank. From the looks on the faces of the other two, they felt similarly. "oh Tohru! Simizu died" he wailed, tears started to pour down his face. "she was so young, she had so much to live for! Why?!" Sora and Natsuno both started to clench fists. Tohru just had a stupefied look on his face.

"Masao, this might not be the best ti-"Tohru started to say, but Masao cut him off. He looked at Natsuno who was just sittingt here minding his own business.

"You're cold Natsuno….you didn't even show up at her funeral." He said, not even taking notice of Sora sitting in the background. Every word Masao said began to piss Sora off more and more.

"I barely knew her. Besides, it wasn't really my place, we weren't exactly on good terms." He said coldly.

"DON'T TALK DOWN TO ME! SHE'S PROBABLY CRYING IN HER GRAVE RIGHT NOW…OR MAYBE SHE'S ANGRY! AND SHE'LL COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU!" the boy flipped out, Tohru and Natsuno flinched when his explosive temper flared.

"Why would she be angry at me? She wasn't even interested in me anymore." Natsuno said coldly. Masao was about to explode again when he cocked his head to the side and noticed Sora sitting placidly on the bed.

"Oh…..you….you're that new villager at the temple. Sora right?" he said timidly. Sora responded with the same cold tone as Natsuno.

"Yes….Natsuno is telling the truth. Megumi was MY girlfriend." He said. His icy stare burned holes in Masao. And as if on instinct, the lanky teen backed away a few inches.

"Well…I'm sorry for your loss." When Masao heard the "my girlfriend" part or soras response. It crushed him. Masao had always wanted Megumi, from the moment he saw her brilliant pink hair in the wind when they were small children. Sora noticed the defeat in his eyes and almost felt a pang of guilt. Almost. "But, you don't look that upset. Shouldn't you be a wreck? I am and shimizu didn't even like me." Masao had meant that almost innocently, but Sora could still sense a pang of snide undertone in the statement. He wanted to lash out. He wanted to reach across the bed and thrash the lanky teen over the head. And it wouldn't be hard. Masao had about five inches on Sora, standing at what would be an impressive six two, if he had the weight to match it, and Sora was at a relatively smaller five ten, but who easily had a hundred pounds on Masao. He could easily wipe the floor with him, he doubted if Masao could even lift himself up from a fall, he looked that weak. But in the end his good nature got the better of him and he decided not to hurt the boy. But he did respond.

"I'm sorry if handling something like an adult seems strange to you. after all, I'm not sobbing like a small child and from what I guess, that seems to be the way you handle things….what I'm saying is I guess I'm just made of tougher stuff than you is all." The room was speechless, and you could hear a pin drop in the deafening silence. The only things remaining in the air were the cold stares of Natsuno and Sora burning holes through Masao. Masao looked like he was about to explode AGAIN.. Truth be told, he had only come here to put the screws to Natsuno who he hated more than anyone….until now. Masao did yell though, and he even grabbed Sora by the scruff.

"HEY KID, HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT! I'M OLDER THAN YOU! DON'T DISRESPECT ME!" it only took a moment, Sora saw his scruff go up and all bets were off. In one fluid motion he shot his hand out and with one open palm, clamped down hard on Masao's throat, and in another push, pinned him against the wall, and the two stood like that for a moment, Sora must have held Masao five inches above the floor by his throat. Sora's eyes were nothing more than slits at this point and the very sigth sent cold chills down Masao's face.

Masao could feel the pressure in his face intensify; after all, he could barely breath with the other young man pressing so hard on his throat. Sora tensed up his grip only for a moment, Tohru was about to intervine when Sora spoke to Masao, in the same, calm, almost calculating voice.

"If you ever talk about Megumi again, I'll  _ **kill**_  you." he said through gritted teeth, and in the next instant, dropped the Masao who came crashing to the floor. Masao only looked with shocked disbelief as Sora, and even Natsuno in the backround stared at him with those same cold piercing eyes.

"Well…I guess…I'll see you tomorrow Tohru." He said with a blank expression as he casually walked out of the door.

"I'm going to sleep you two, we can talk more in the morning" Sora gave them one last knowing stare before setting up his futon. They must have felt similarly exhausted and set up their own beds.

**late that night.**

Megumi felt a glowing warm sensation. Something so pleasant she couldn't describe. It almost looked as if she were laying in a meadow of flowers. But that brilliant image was shattered in a moment. The location she was in was dark. But not quite. Megumi tried to extend her arms, but she hit the top of something wooden. She felt around, a cold sweat growing on her forehead. An "extremely" cold sweat. She pawed around frantically. And started slamming her fists on the top of whatever had her trapped.

"Let me out! LET ME OUT!" she tried to speak, but no words would reveal themselves to her. She tried frantically gasping and trying as hard as she could to get something to help, she was so gripped in the throws of terror that she started to cry, no. she started to sob! Frantically clawing and punching and kicking. She was squirming and trying to shriek yet still no words escaped her lips. For a moment she thought she was dreaming until blood started to well from her fingertips after a few more moments of pure utter terror she noticed something fall out of her white robe sleeve. She picked it up. And noticed a familiar postcard with the note she had so laboriously written to Sora. She was surprised she could read it in the low….nonexistent…light of her coffin. She flipped the card over and saw Sora's handwriting.

" _Did he send it back with a note on it too?"_ she read the note, and almost started to sob again.

" _Megumi…you died, if you're reading this it means you've risen as a vampire, if not then I hope you know how much I love you from the afterlife. In a few moments after you've settled from our freakout a man will start digging up your coffin. He is going to take you into a room and force you to feed on a weakened human, I don't know if you'll succumb to your desires on your own or if he'll force you to do it but either way the person will die….i can't change that no matter how much I wish I could, don't believe him when he says that you have to kill people, that's just how they keep the new vampires in line…remember, you always have a choice, you need blood, but not life….oh, also, whenever you are free enough to set about the village on your own, meet me at the temple steps, I'm sure Tatsumi will explain all of the basis of being a vampire and all of that, don't trust him or anyone else at the kirashiki mansion unless you knew them as villagers…..one last thing, I know it means a lot to you, but rip this note up, I don't want Tatsumi knowing I know about the vampire problem, I'll explain everything when you meet me,_

_-sincerely Sora"_

Sure enough after a moment Megumi heard shovelfuls of dirt being scraped off of the coffin sealing. And without a second thought, shredded the card.

**hope you liked comment review and ect**


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> megumi learns about being a shiki and she meets sora at the temple steps, what plan does he have in store for them?

**fallout 4 is released so im not sure how regularly ill be able tuo upload these chapters for the next few weeks, im playing the hell out of it. its gonna be reagged and loose and covered in whte stuff by the time i finish with it. but anyway here is teh new chapter, hope you enjoy**

Megumi heard earth moving in the blackness above her. She tried desperately to call out for help after she had shredded the note Sora gave her. Her mind should have been racing with questions but all she could focus on was the plight she had been placed in. she clawed at the top of the wood, pounded the frame as hard as she could while she heard the shovels moving. A sinister thought came to her mind,

" _What if they are burying me?! But I'm not dead! I'm not dead, please don't bury me!"_  she wanted to scream, she tried desperately. But the only sound that came out of her mouth was a subtle squeak, almost like the sound of a door frame in desperate need of oil. She kept up the effort but found it in vain. No matter what she tried she couldn't summon the words. After a few more moments she could hear the shoveling noise growing louder until finally-

*thud* that sound filled her with hope yet haunted her at the same time. Once she was cued to the sound she began to fight harder, ripping and bashing the wood at the top of her coffin. A dim light was pouring in through one of the cracks in the cheap frame. She gave it a closer look in her panic and noticed it start to grow. It was only a millimeter at first, but in one instant Megumi was viewing the night sky as the lid that sealed her tomb flew open.

"hey." A voice spoke casually.

Megumi tried to speak once more, but like moments ago, it was little more than a squeak. She tried harder, but once she realized she couldn't she began to scratch at her throat.

"Whoa now!" a large man with blue hair stepped into her view. "I know you must have a lot of questions but just calm down and I'll explain everything. Firstly, you died. Look around you, yes this is in fact your grave." He hoisted her by the armpits out of the hole she was in. she looked around at the area she was in and gasped….or rather she did the vampiric equivalent. She tried to ask him questions and was met with that same inability to speak. "Easy with that, you'll give yourself a sore throat." He snickered. "Take a deep breath, you need to do it manually since you aren't breathing." Megumi did as instructed.

"w-what's going on?" she asked in a hoarse meek voice.

"Like I said, you died. But you rose from the grave. You're one of the special few. In fact I'd say only about a third of people in your position rise, so count your blessings… _she smells funny…..almost like her boyfriend, what was his name…Sora?"_ Megumi put a hand to her wrist.

"No pulse?" she squeaked as she looked around nervously.

"Nope. You're alive, but you aren't human anymore." He said. A creepy smile crept across his face; Megumi found it a bit sadistic. "Anyway it's my job to help fledglings like you adapt and thrive in our community. That being said, I'm also the punisher if you fail to abide by our rules." He got up close to her face. "And I have to tell you…I love that part of the job. But lucky for you, I love seeing you succeed even more" she slinked back a little bit.

"So I'm a vampire?  _Sora….how did you know about this?"_ Tatsumi looked at her suspiciously.

"Hmm…call it whatever you want. But yes, very perceptive of you. Most people don't take it this well… _you really smell strange…_  anyway, let me try to explain this to you. You won't die of disease or aging…but that by no means makes you immortal, if anyone were to destroy your heart or sever your head then you're dead. Also, sunlight will burn you to a crisp. That being said, you will heal most injuries. Any major cuts stab wounds and even bullet wounds will heal instantly. You can even re attach lost limbs and digits if you hold them to the wound. Burns heal more slowly." Megumi looked at him curiously; her large eyes darted from place to place.

"So…what else….. _im gonna have to kill someone Sora said. Could I really do that?"_  she shivered in place for a moment. Tatsumi rubbed his nose again as he peered into her coffin.

" _He must have left her a card or something…..that's so sweet it makes me sick, I think I'm gonna enjoy punishing him, guess she tore it up when she was freaking out."_ Tatsumi said as he noticed the shredded pieces of paper scattered about the floor of the wood. Then he heard Megumi scream.

"What's wrong" he said impatiently. Megumi covered her eyes and pointed to a small box wrapped in beautifully ornate paper. The lid mas missing and Megumi pointed to the small charm inside. With a smirk Tatsumi walked over to it and picked it up.

" _This certainly gives me an uneasy feeling, but jinrou don't have that innate fear of spiritual things like shiki do."_ He smiled devilishly. As he put the charm closer to her face. "What? It's just a little charm." She screamed louder and backed away again, this time Tatsumi placed it right in front of her face. Megumi backed up again and shrieked even more loudly.

"Get it away! Stop!" she wailed at the top of her lungs. Tatsumi couldn't help but break out laughing as he subjected the new vampire to this torture.

'That actually brings up another good point, creatures like you are afraid of mystical things. Things from any religion will work and even things from witchcraft and Satanist symbols, just as long as the object serves a spiritual or mystical purpose….and you can't enter a private building unless you've been invited. However, abandoned buildings are fair game. And open shops too, just as long as there aren't any housing wings on the building, like the doctors clinic for instance." Megumi began to regain her composure.

"What happens if I try to go somewhere I'm not welcome?" she asked more confidently. She was starting to grasp how to speak again. Tatsumi smirked.

"Well, it's not like you'll burn to a crisp or explode or anything, but it will fill you with a fear more intense than the fear that little charm gave you. Even the most resolute vampires can only manage a few moments in a place that they are unwelcome….and it usually leaves lasting psychological effects….now I'm going to need you to come with me. There's something I need to show you." she walked with him hesitantly, leaving behind the charm Kaori had given to her.

**An hour later**

Megumi sat in the dilapidated house while Tatsumi stood behind the door preparing something. He burst in giggling with a fit of laughter.

"Ah, kids really do struggle when you try to set them up like this, but I got the little squirt." He laughed triumphantly as he pointed to the room in back. Megumi peered over his shoulder and noticed a small child bound and gagged laying on his side in the middle of the room. There was a cut on one of his arms and next to him was a glass filled with blood. The boy was shivering, panting heavily. And he looked an unnaturally pale color. Megumi was about to gag.

"Who…who is he?  _Is this what Sora was talking about?"_ Tatsumi laughed again.

"Being a vampire you will of course need to feed on blood to survive. Anyone you bite will die of anemia anyway so you always need to make sure you kill them. You HAVE to kill them. And it doesn't matter who this kid is, just feed on him and he'll die." Megumi looked tepidly at the small child. She never liked kids, hated them in fact, but that didn't mean she wanted to kill one.

"I'm not hungry…" she said defiantly. Tatsumi leered right into her face this time, his normally amber eyes turned red and black as he glared at her.

"Are you being ungrateful? If you want I can hammer a stake into your heart and chop off your head myself, or I could find you once you sleep at dawn and drag you into the sun….or I could do something much, much worse." He gestured to Megumi's breasts, and she slunk back when she picked up the hint. "Anyway I prepared a glass too, not everyone can get a victim on their first try, let alone someone they know, so for today, take your pick" he said as he funneled her into the room.

There she stood, al alone with a small child. She could hear his breathing, she could hear how he fussed and struggled to break his bindings.

" _I can't stop that person from dying no matter how much I wish it"_ Sora's words echoed in her mind as she bit back on her lower lip. Then the smell hit her nose. Fresh blood. It smelled so warm….it smelled so sweet. And in that moment Megumi lost herself in the frenzy. She advanced upon the child and plunged her fangs into his neck. It was only a moment of struggling but then the body fell limp. In that moment all of Megumi's senses turned feral and she could hardly get a grasp on reality. The only truth that she could understand was that she was still hungry. Very. Hungry. And in the next moment she turned her sights on the glass she began to take rapid gulps of the sticky red liquid inside but a thought popped into her mind for.

" _You always have a choice….you need blood, not life. You don't have to kill people"_ that thought cut through her instincts. She dropped the glass, it shattered to the floor and based on the spill, it was halfway empty. She looked over at the small child lying limp on the floor. And she felt tears streaming down her cheeks.

"i…..I'm sorry…" she whispered. " _I never thought I would feel so bad for someone else….but why can't I stop crying?"_ Tatsumi all the while was looking into the room where Megumi had fed.

" _Huh…she certainly has some self-control, most fledglings kill the person and then drink the whole glass in an instant….but she stopped herself…..that strange smell seems to be fading away."_

**Two nights later.**

Sora sat waiting at the temple steps. This was the fourth night he'd stayed out. He was growing more tired by the day…sleeping in broad daylight just wasn't as satisfying as a nights rest and it showed on his face. His eyes were almost red with blood vessels and the bags underneath were turning a sickly blue color.

" _How much longer…..how many days does it take to rise? How long does Tatsumi's tutorial take…is Megumi having a hard time killing that victim? No….knowing her she probably would have done it for her survival without a second thought. I guess second thoughts are only for people she cares about…."_ Sora sat thinking in place for a long time in that spot until Seshin called behind him.

"Hey Sora. I brought you some coffee. I figured it might help you stay awake." Sora smiled at him.

"thanks…it's getting to a point where I don't think she'll come…do you forget to put my card in her coffin?"" Seshin smiled warmly at Sora.

"No….and even if I did I'm sure she would come of her own volition. She liked you too Sora…." Sora sighed.

"that's not exactly a comforting thought…..i don't know what I'm going to do if she is really gone…." Sora looked at Seshin.

"I've noticed some things Sora. If you're thinking about ending your life then I strongly advise against it." Sora gasped.

"What do you mean? H _ow did he know I was toying with the idea?"_ Sora slunk back away from Seshin.

"It's a natural thought I think. You're in a world that isn't your own, no family, few friends, and the only person you care about, the person that you wanted to come here for in the first place might be gone forever. But even still, you need to push on. Don't end something when you still have potential to do other things. There is so much more to experience even without Megumi, and I won't let you miss out on it. Trust me, I've been in dark places too." Seshin put a hand or Sora's back and smiled at him.

"I had already decided against it….but yeah…thanks for reassuring me. I guess even without Megumi I still have you Sei. Id say you're the family I have here….look, you should probably tend to other things, I can wait here myself." Sora smiled, it was a sad smile, but a smile all the same.

"Alright Sora….just…take care of yourself." Seshin said, as he walked away he grew an overwhelming sense of worry for the young man sitting somberly on the temple steps.

**A few hours later.**

Sora was sleeping on the temple steps, he hadn't intended to. He only wanted to rest his eyes, but the latest events were taking its toll on his body so he was growing a bit weak. From the bushes came a rustling. A slim figure rustled its way around the bushes and a flash of pink hair could be seen by anyone who might have been looking. Slowly Megumi scrambled out and reached the foot of the temple steps. She looked up at it and it instantly made her feel dreadful. Not only was she uninvited but it was the utter center of religious and mystical artifacts in the village. It was a feeling similar to standing near an angry beehive. Only instead of the vicious buzzing Megumi only had the deafening silence to exaggerate her fear. She noticed Sora sleeping at the foot of the steps and walked over to him. She gently caressed his hair and smiled warmly….as warmly as a vampire could at least. Then she noticed his neck.

" _it smells so sweet…unlike anything the villagers would have flowing in them…..I haven't killed anyone since that kid, but feeding does seem to hurt them pretty badly….i guess if they live it's okay right? How long can I keep this up before Tatsumi catches on…but my god he smells so sweet."_ That frenzied feeling was about to envelop Megumi again, taking her away into its violent nirvana. But she suppressed the feeling as quickly as she noticed it. " _No Megumi….you can't hurt him…"_ she thought, though her fangs were mere inches away from his neck. She quickly snapped her head back and bit her lower lip, sucking a few drops of her own blood to numb her urge a bit. She sat next to him and put a hand around his shoulder. She leaned in and whispered gently to him.

"Sora….hey, wake up." Megumi felt a sharp pain in her nose as she noticed Sora freak out and bounce away.

"What? Who? Where? I'll save you princess!" Megumi clutched her nose until the pain subsided. She noticed Sora pull a fist away. Then he looked upon what he was seeing and his eyes grew large. Tears formed in the corners as he threw his arms around Megumi.

"Megumi! I'm so glad you're okay!" she hugged him back and buried her face in his chest. They held each other like that for a long time. Sora rested his chin on the top of her head and she snuggled in more closely…

."not to ruin the romantic moment, but I gotta pull off. I might be tempted to bite you Sora." She said sarcastically. Sora let up and smiled…."hey why did you punch me when I woke you up?" she asked, a cross look plastered across her face. Sora stared back meekly.

'sorry about that…..I've always had a violent reaction when people wake me up, don't you remember the time you kicked me awake and I pulled the knife on you?" Megumi thought back to that day and shuddered.

'yeah….i don't think I'd ever been scared so badly… _until now that is…._ Sora, can we move away from the temple, it gives me the creeps." Sora thought for a moment.

"Okay, Megumi I invite you in to the Sotoba temple…I can't make the fear of spiritual objects go away, but I figure this might put your mind at greater ease." In that moment a wave of ecstasy rushed over Megumi as the superb relief replaced the insurmountable fear the temple had given her earlier. She still felt uneasy about it, but since she was at least invited she could tolerate the distance she had to it.

"Well…I guess that works too, just don't make me go into it okay." She pleaded coyly. Winking at Sora.

"Anyway. I just needed to know for sure your alive." Megumi looked at him curiously.

"You didn't have any plan? You just wanted to make sure I was okay?" she almost giggled at how innocent Sora sounded. "Why do you trust me so much? How do you know I won't kill you and eat your blood?" Sora looked at her warmly again.

'I won't deny the thought hadn't crossed my mind, but I trust you. just because you're a vampire doesn't mean you're a monster. You're still Megumi. Perhaps you might have a violent impulse when you're hungry, but it doesn't make you any less Megumi. So I'll take the leap of faith." She smiled at his honest statement. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Wait….how did you know about vampires and all of the stuff happening in the village?" Sora gulped.

"Oh…that…..I'll tell you in time….but I have a question to ask."

"What sort of question" Megumi said tepidly.

"You want to leave Sotoba right?" Megumi could feel a lump in her throat. She thought she had a pretty good idea about what Sora was going to ask next.

"Y-yes. You know I do more than anything." She couldn't shake that uneasy feeling.

"What do you say about leaving with me. Tonight. I can explain everything I know on the road." Megumi had to step back. The thought surprised her and she didn't quite know how to react to it.

"Well….i…." she bit her lower lip again.

"It's not like you have anything left here, after all everyone thinks you're dead. And there is the matter of Tatsumi, the blue haired guy who dug you up. He's just going to force you to keep killing." Megumi's eyes went dark when Sora said "killing".

"I mean. The offer is tempting….but what are we going to do about money?"

"hypnotize your victims and steal it from them, or we could go to job interviews and you could hypnotize them and force them to give us jobs at maximum pay.' She giggled at how willing Sora was to be morally grey.

"What about a car? Transport?" Sora smiled at her question.

"Just steal one, I can drive, and you can hypnotize anyone who asks questions." She giggled again.

'You're so bad Sora!" he smiled slyly. "But what about a safe place to sleep till dawn? Wait let me guess, you plan to steal that too." Sora laughed.

"yeah, but if we can't find one I can just put my clothes over you until you wake up the next night." She blushed at the thought. "Just as long as we don't kill anyone I'm pretty much fine with whatever we do. I just want to make sure you get out of here safely….i want to get out too."

"What about Seshin? What are you going to do about him? Won't he look for you?" Sora looked hurt for a moment.

'Seshin knows everything I'm about to explain to you already…..and he also knows that I might leave at any time….I've put saving the village in his hands, right now you're all that I care about." She blushed an even deeper shade of red, it contrasted starkly with her pale, almost white, skin.

"I….i guess. I'll go with you Sora…..we'll leave Sotoba together tonight."

And so the two set off on a path through the mountains. They laughed and giggled together and talked on and on about the things they wished to do. Megumi wanted to go into modeling, or perhaps fashion design. Sora didn't wuite have a read on anything he wanted yet but he was sure an opportunity would present itself. they must have traveled for half an hour. And the two felt happier than they had ever been in their lives. But after a few more moments, they were stopped by a familiar, sinister voice.

'and where do you think you two are going?" Sora turned and looked upon Tatsumi's face. All he could feel in that moment was a sense of pure terror.

**as always please leave a comment/review of your thoughts/criticisms, all feedback is welcome!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tatsumi catches sora and megumi as they are about to finally break free of sotoba, what will happen to the both of them once tatsumi bares his fangs?

**woo new chapter, oh be warned this chapter does have a romantic scene in it....also it gets really REALLY meta. shikiception and the fourth layer of dreams and all that....prepare yourself for a mindfuck**

“And just where do you think you guys are going?” Sora shuddered when he heard that familiar voice. He knew what he would see as soon as he turned around but still his stomach seemed to drop to the ground. He gritted his teeth and slowly made an about face, Megumi did the same. Sora could see her shaking as well. he wondered what could be going through her mind, just what had Tatsumi done to her, or threatened to do. Sora hoped desperately that he wouldn’t find out.

“ _Shit!_ We’re leaving. What does it look like?” he said with false bravado. He clenched a trembling fist as the blue haired man smiled coyly at the two.

“Sorry….but I can’t allow it. See, I've been given express orders to punish the one responsible for destroying the mansion. I also can’t allow any of our precious vampires to leave Sotoba.” He said in a matter of factly tone.

“What does the mansion’s destruction have to do with me?” Sora lied.

“I have it on good authority that it was you.” he laughed.

“Oh yeah? Who’s authority?” he said bitterly. Tatsumi nodded to Megumi. She looked away from Sora guiltily.

“He hypnotized me before they killed me….they made me tell them everything I knew” Megumi began to cry “I didn’t want to tell them Sora! You have to believe me!” Sora rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Look, I don’t blame you. You couldn’t help it so don’t worry.” She smiled sadly at him.

“not to break up the romantic moment, but I still have to deal with you two.” Sora stepped back when he saw the red in Tatsumi’s eyes.

“can’t you just look the other way and let us go? How important could one vampire and a vandal be to your cause?” Sora was sweating bullets, he desperately tried to find a way out of the situation he was in, he might have started begging if Megumi wasn’t standing inches away from him.

“Sorry kid. Personally I couldn’t care less if you two stayed or left, in fact I think this whole plan is totally flawed. But I wont disappoint Sunako, I could never. She’s all I have after all.” Sora saw a faint glimmer of guilt in his eyes before that same sadistic hunger took over. “I do have to ask though..why did you destroy the mansion in the first place? You don’t look like a troublemaker to me.” Megumi nodded curiously. Sora looked away and put his head down. He took a deep breath.

“I wanted to stop Sunako from invading the village.” He said.

“What? How could you possibly have known?” Sora laughed defiantly at Tatsumi.

“like I’d ever tell you….sorry Megumi, I know you loved that house, I remember you tried to kill me after you found out, but that was the reason, I wish I could have told you, but you definitely would have thought I was crazy.”

“I guess it doesn’t matter, I can just force the information from you. we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Tatsumi cracked his knuckles. “easy way means a peaceful feeding death, you never know, you might even rise and get to stay with Megumi forever… _Sunako would certainly boil you in the sun…so you better pray you don’t…_ hard way means I break every bone in your body and then kill you anyway”. Sora could feel the irritation rise in his voice.

“So what’s the medium way?... _this moment is literally worth my entire life, don’t think for a second ill just surrender.”_

“Gotta say, I wouldn’t be able to joke if I was in your position” he smiled coyly. “So make your choice.”

“Here’s my choice. Fuck you, and fuck Suna-“ Sora was stopped mid-sentence when one of Tatsumi’s fists slammed into his ribs, sending him flying into the base of a tree. A moment before the pain set in Sora thought he heard a crunch as he flew back. Tatsumi cracked his knuckles as he walked to Sora.

‘Don’t you dare hurt him!” Megumi wailed as she charged him fangs bared, Tatsumi slid skillfully out of the way and slammed the back of his fist into her face, Sora could hear her neck snap and she dropped to the floor like a ragdoll. Sora could feel the rage growing inside of him. The adrenaline it produced was probably the only reason he was able to stay awake through the intense pain.

“b-bastard” he choked out. He coughed and a spattering of blood dripped out of his mouth. Tatsumi simply walked up to him calmly. He grabbed Sora’s chin with two fingers and raised his head to meet his eyes.

“Don’t you dare disrespect Sunako.” He said as he slammed another fist into Sora’s arm. Sora nearly gagged when he felt the bone snap. “whoops, I forgot how fragile normal people are.” He said with a sneer. Sora phased in and out of consciousness but kept his eyes deadlocked on Tatsumi the whole time. “I gotta say, I'm getting pretty tired of that defiant look in your eyes.” Tatsumi snapped. The next instant Sora felt a flurry of punches and kicks assault his person. The pain only grew but Sora was long past his threshold.

“ _Is…is this really it? I…I can’t…let this happen…I can’t”_ Sora used his good arm and fumbled for something in his pocket. Tatsumi stood dominantly over Sora, one leg pressing into his ribs as hard as he could. But while Tatsumi was giving him a speech about how he made a terrible mistake Sora jammed a small folding knife into Tatsumi’s Achilles tendon. He could faintly remember smiling as Tatsumi fell over doubled in pain. But it was only mere moments before the wound healed. Tatsumi plucked the small knife out of his leg and snapped it in half at the steel between two fingers. He kicked Sora’s ribs as hard as he could in rage. And this time, the shock overwhelmed Sora, unable to bear the pain a moment longer Sora finally lost consciousness.

“hmp. That kinda stung.” He  laughed. He could hear Megumi grunt in pain a few feet behind him. He grabbed her by the chin the same way he did Sora and looked hungrily in her terrified eyes.

“He really pissed me off. I think I need to punish both of you for the trouble you’ve caused me. So kill him. Feed on him and drain every last drop of blood.” She tried to back away but her neck was still in an unnatural position so she was still effectively crippled for the moment.

“No way! I won’t do it!” Tatsumi smirked at her.

“I'm not even going to give you an easy or hard choice, thank your idiot lover for that loss. You’re going to do it or I'm going to force you to do it.” She nipped defiantly at him.

“Oh my, testy aren’t we. Fine, be that way.” Tatsumi grabbed both of her pigtails in one hand and dragged her over to Sora’s unconscious body, she kicked and screamed every inch but it didn’t seem to bother Tatsumi. He raised her head a few inches from the ground by her pigtails and dug his fingers hard into her cheeks. It forced her jaw open, in that awkward position he planted her face into Sora’s neck. Megumi could smell the sweet blood flowing in his veins but refused to feed, letting out a few muffled screams directed toward Tatsumi.

“Feed” he said angrily.

“mwo!” she tried to force the word no, but it was muffled under Sora’s flesh. Tatsumi didn’t hesitate for a moment and punched her bottom jaw forging her teeth to dig in to the teen’s soft neck. One taste of his blood was all it took for her to frenzy. In another second that violent euphoria filled her mind and she sunk her fangs deep into an artery. Tatsumi laughed while she gleefully drew as much blood as she could stomach. Once she had her fill Tatsumi pulled her away. She had a huge grin on her face, something that you might see on the face of a drug addict who scored a huge fix. She had a huge grin, until the haze of her action wore off and she saw Sora sitting mere inches away from her struggling to breath. All she could do was look on in horror at what she had done.

“I’ll say it certainly is fun breaking a vampire of their morals. One taste and you lost your mind. How does it feel to know you **enjoyed** feeding on someone you claimed to care for so much?” Megumi started sobbing.

“In the end those feelings will always win out. You’re a monster; I don’t know what lies he filled your head with, or what he was after. I’m sure he was just trying to get into your pants….but I promise you humans won’t accept you, **he** won’t accept you. The sooner you realize that we are all you have the better life will be for you. Shape up and act like the killer you are.” Megumi could barely internalize what was happening to her but Tatsumi’s words cut through it. “ _act like the killer you are”_ Megumi wanted to refuse to believe it but something in her mind almost accepted the statement. She adjusted her neck and felt motor function return to all of her limbs. She slowly crawled to Sora and wiped the blood away from his mouth.

“What are you going to do now?’ she asked timidly.

“Not a damned thing. You are. Drag him away from here, I expect you to show me the body once he’s dead.”

“Drag him where?” she pleaded.

“I don’t really care…just somewhere sheltered.” He said playfully.

“But I won’t have time to drag him back to the village before the sun comes up! What if I’m out too long and I burn to a crisp?” he laughed sadistically.

“Not my problem. Good luck.” He gave her a brief wave as he walked away.

**Several hours later**

A sharp pain throbbed in his arm and it seemed every time he took a breath that something was stabbing into his lungs. His eyes were heavy and his headache was so intense it caused his vision to blur. But slowly, and with dedicated effort, he managed to wake up, and to stay up. A dim orange light beamed across the wall to his left. He looked over to its source, curtains. They were closed but the gap between the two shades allowed for a small pocket of light to penetrate the room. It was also extremely hot. The air was so stale that Sora had to cough again. Like before a few drops of blood spattered onto his hand.

 _“What in the world happened to me?”_ he sat up as much as he could before the pain prevented it and pulled up his shirt. Swollen purple and brown bruises dotted his entire body, with one large sore in the center of his sternum. He couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Then he looked over the entire room. His stomach dropped when he saw Megumi in a corner, face down, her limbs thrown in awkward positions.

“Did she fall like that? Hey Megumi!” he strained to say. No response. He tried calling to her again. And again she didn’t respond. She just lay still in that position.

“Oh right….vampire’s pass out during the day.” Sora looked over to the light.

“I’d say there’s maybe a half hour of light left…I guess I can wait….just gonna rest my eyes.” Sora drifted out of consciousness again.

“o-a. –ra. Sora. Sora! Please wake up!” a voice slipped back into focus and Sora opened his eyes to see Megumi holding a glass of water. “Thank god! here, take this.” Sora grabbed it with his good arm and gulped it down greedily. Painfully too, every swallow seemed to stab his lungs just like deep breaths. He felt Megumi’s arms wrap around him and rubbed his face into her cheek, basking in the coolness.

“What happened? I feel like I got hit by a train.” Megumi looked at him guiltily. Sora went to rub his neck and felt two small scabs. He looked at Megumi in shock.

“Tatsumi….he stopped us before we could escape Sotoba…..said he needed to punish you or something…and well, you can feel the results.”

“So he fed on me too…that explains the headache…” Sora could see the color in Megumi’s eyes fade.

“Oh….i hope he didn’t hurt you.”

“Not as much as I hurt you I think.” She smiled sadly.

“I don’t blame you, I'm sure he had a hard time in forcing.” Sora smiled warmly at her.

“….yes….i was against every second…..” she lied.

“That’s good I guess. Well, we better get going.” Sora said. He tried to get up but Megumi forced him back down.

“Don’t move! You’re really injured! …besides, he’d just catch us again.” She said in a panicked voice.

“I don’t care, getting out of here is all I want for us, I don’t care if I have to end up in a casket to ensure your safety, you’re all I have in this world and I refuse to live in it without you.”

“ _in this world?_ Its not like I'm in any danger….so don’t worry for my safety…..i just hate being trapped in Sotoba.” Megumi saw something in Sora’s eyes. Something that made her even more curious.

“You **are** in danger…..the whole village is. You need to leave or you’ll die!” she backed away in shock.

“A bit late for that Sora…I'm sure Sunako will take over the village and I’ll be here…..forever…” she almost broke into tears when she said forever.

“No….sunako’s plan will fail. Doctor Ozaki is going to lead a massive extermination effort against the vampires, he’ll kill every last one besides Sunako, that includes you.” Sora said. Megumi shuddered when she felt the serious tone in his voice.

“That won’t happen…Tatsumi and Sunako pretty much have this village locked up ironclad. Besides, the doctor has no idea what’s going on, no one does….but you I guess……how _do_ you know by the way?”

“it might be better if I showed you…” Sora fished out his phone and handed it to Megumi.

“Wow what’s this?!” she said as she tapped the screen excitedly.

“Hey Megumi, focus for a second.”

“Oh so you operate it by touching the screen? THAT’S SO COOL!!!”

“ _I'm surprised she figured it out so quickly…_ Megumi come on I need to show you someth-“

“*squeal* IT EVEN HAS A CAMERA!!!” a delightful smile crept across her face as she took several pictures. She was in different positions with Sora as she snapped picture after picture. Sora sighed despondently.

“ _Damn…it took me a week to figure out that damned phone and she’s got it mastered in ten seconds…if she’s this smart how the hell did she get hit with tractors?”_ Sora sighed again.

“Alright give it back for a minute.’ Sora said sternly. Megumi’s face turned beet red as she handed him his phone back. Sora switched it to media play and loaded up the first episode of shiki. He plugged in his earbuds and handed Megumi one, she gleefully accepted and sat with her head perched on his shoulder as he fiddled with it.

“Look, you need to watch this…to summarize…I'm not from this world, moreover I thought it was just something in a story until I was “corrected” as in, I was dropped straight into the abandoned temple. Basically the whole village ends tragically due to the efforts of the vampires fighting against doctor Ozaki. This will take the entire night, so just sit and watch it patiently with me. And so the two sat. Megumi struggled with the information Sora gave her, but put her questions on the backburner for the sake of his sanity. The first episode loaded.

“ohh! Am I the main character of this story? Damn I look good in that dress, I’ll have to steal it back from my closet….yuuki….what a jerk……Kaori? She really needed to get a clue…….hey…..don’t go up to the mansion! I know it looks cool but……oh…so I guess I turn in this story too…..to think Natsuno hated me that much….”now I can open my window” I should feed on him once or twice and hypnotize him to do something really embarrassing as revenge” Sora couldn’t help but laugh as she watched her own struggles.

“Just keep watching…I can promise you won’t find it funny for long.” Hours passed as the story unfolded.

“so I kill Tohru…………now I'm refusing Tatsumi’s orders and attacking Yuuki…..i see Tohru again and taunt him….this certainly sounds like me, I can’t stand him…..oh, I'm about to get Yuuki? Or will it be Tatsumi?......tohru…….he gets in the way of everything doesn’t he…hey why aren’t I in this story much? I thought I was the main character.” She pouted.

“I wouldn’t say you aren’t a main character, but certainly not the protagonist.” Sora chuckled.

“So I'm the villain?” she asked, with that same cute pouting face.

“To some people, but I see you as more of a grey character. You certainly aren’t perfect, but you aren’t exactly evil in my eyes…..and for the record, you ARE my favorite.” She smiled triumphantly at him. Both continued watching. “remember…this story is what happens without me, so I'm not in it…..”

“yeah I figured….but…not much has happened….this is a slow story, but hey, I get a happy end right?” Sora looked away.

“Just….keep watching.” He said guiltily.

“So….tatsumi makes me kill Kaori’s family…..i guess if I thought she was stealing you, or in that case Natsuno, I wouldn’t have any problem with it, I would enjoy making someone who stole you suffer…my that certainly sounds bad when I say it out loud…..hahaha Masao you stupid jerk, I'm glad I get to beat the tar out of you like that!” Sora couldn’t help but laugh.

“You really are nuts, but I love crazy so its fine…speaking of which, you’re taking this rather well.”

“well, I'm holding back….i do sort of feel bad for Kaori….tatsumi really twisted that situation for me, knowing she’s innocent definitely gives me a bit of guilt….poor girl always thought we were friends, and as annoying as she was, she didn’t deserve that….i guess I have a chance to right that wrong now…or prevent myself from it.” Sora noticed the guilt in her eyes.

“Yeah….we can prevent…..lots of things.” He said hesitantly.

“ _He keeps hiding something…_ so now I'm taunting her father…..I’m sort of a bitch aren’t i?” Sora burst out laughing when he heard Megumi. “This story really needs more me in it, I'm barely in every other section, and even then only for a few minutes…oh I'm taunting Masao again……and…..ozaki… so….the villagers really are hunting us……I beat up Masao again….damn….thats some brutal stuff, I kinda feel bad for Seshin too, Sunako is obviously stringing him along…oh hey its me again! I love that outfit I'm wearing, the leopard print is just so sexy! So this is the last part right? I definitely get away, no one sees me…..wait…what?” Megumi looked on in horror at the screen; Sora could see her developing a cold sweat. All she could do was stare in shock at what was happening to her. Every word the other Megumi begged and pleaded with the villagers sent a ripple up her spine. She watched mouth agape as the tractors destroyed her small body…..then, bam…..the stake.

“NO!!!! no no no no no no!!!! that’s not it! That cant be what happens!” the phone was still in the middle of playing but it didn’t matter, Megumi threw it against the wall as hard as she could, nearly sobbing and tearing at her hair. The phone itself splintered into a million pieces leaving Sora to stare at it bleakly.

“Do you understand now? Do you understand why we have to leave? Why YOU have to leave.” Megumi was still in shock….

“No….no way! No way I'm going to die here!!!!” she started to sob again. “but Tatsumi won’t let us leave, can’t you just tell him what’s going on? Is it really so bad to let the village get turned to save our lives?’

“even if I did he wouldn’t believe me… look, I don’t care what happens to me, I'm screwed in this world anyway, but you have to leave! You NEED to get out. Or do something! Kill the doctor, I don’t really care what! But please do something!” he looked deeply into her large tearful eyes and held one of her cheeks. She rubbed her face on the warmth of his palm.

“I’ll do whatever I can, even if that’s just trying to convince you before I die.”

“Why….why are you so willing to throw your life away? I don’t have to feed on you. You said so.” She pleaded

“Because id rather die than see someone get tortured because of me. I'm not stupid, I know Tatsumi would beat the hell out of you, or worse if you refused., and god knows what else he would do to me…at least you would be gentle…if it was you, I could accept it, and I’d have served the purpose I was sent here for….or at least the purpose I decided for myself, besides, Seshin knows about my origin and the villages fate too, he knows he might have to stop sunako so I won’t have to feel guilty about the village dying….i don’t have any regrets. And who knows. I might rise… _not likely, not from this world so who knows what will happen to me…._ so please….you do it so Tatsumi won’t.” he looked away. Megumi slowly began to accept the situation and drew her fangs…Sora felt two pricks of pain for a moment, but then went coldly numb….”this….wow, this feeling is better than any painkiller, its like my injuries are melting away”

Megumi finished feeding on him, somehow this time it lacked that frenzied pleasure she had come to know.

“is there anything you need….if you’re really okay with this then I can force myself to do it…just promise me that you’ll rise up” she said defiantly.

“I don-“he was cut off

“Promise me!” she screamed.

“Alright…. _we both know it’s a lie….but if it makes her feel happy”_ Sora took a pained deep breath.

“Thank you Sora…for everything.” The two kissed. Sora leaned back and Megumi crawled on top of him. He struggled awkwardly to put his good arm on her back. She kissed him more passionately.

“ _Should I go for it?”_ almost on instinct Megumi grabbed his hand and brought it to the top of her dress….slowly it started to unzip.

“Agh, it hurts when you put your hands on my chest like that!” Sora said playfully. Though the pain in his ribs was still quite potent.

“I thought that was my line” she said seductively. The two embraced more closely, and whatever pleasure Megumi skipped when feeding was repaid a thousand fold.

**The next morning**

Sora laid quietly, the anemia starting to take hold. Megumi was cuddled up closely next to him, holding him like a newborn. He could feel her bare chest press against the side of his body.

“ _I was going to ask Megumi for a thinner blanket since it’s so hot in here…but I guess she can cool me down enough….im surprised that……stuff…… still works for vampires…moreover I'm surprised she was so soft….i thought for sure she was going to be really rigid and brittle…that was certainly unique...i guess today is my last one…I really don’t have any regrets now…I can hardly move now….but if this is how I spend my last day, cuddled up with her….i guess its time well spent…but I have to wonder, what is Seshin thinking…surely he and Natsuno have to be worried…..i feel bad for Natsuno, he so desperately wants to be with tohru…..i think he wanted to be my friend too…and I feel like the last bit of contact we had was pretty good….it was kinda funny how jealous he got, I wonder if he really is in love with Tohru, or if he’s just really close to his friends…..and…..my thoughts are running wild aren’t they….i guess I really am losing my mind….at least now I can get a moments peace”_  Sora thought. He drifted out of consciousness with a smile on his face. Several hours later Megumi rose from her own slumber.

“Hey Sora.” She said warmly, noticing the big grin on his face. She shook him, but he didn’t move. She was scared for a moment, but could feel him breathing.

“i…..guess this is it….. _please…you have to rise….i don’t want to be alone here…”_ she reluctantly bore her fangs into his neck and fed until he was dry….and in that moment she found herself sobbing again.

**as always leave a review/comment/kudo/blah blah blah you know the drill**


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tatsumi questions his actions and sora loses control of his own

**this chapter is just a tad short, but based on where it ends i feel it would be bad to continue as one chapter**

"But why?" Tatsumi said with an almost innocent curiosity. "I beat him pretty savagely, and then made his own lover kill him. I think both have been punished more than enough. If he rises I'm sure he'll get the message not to mess with us. Who knows, he might even help us. Tatsumi said as he smiled politely. Sunako however was not amused. She glared at Tatsumi with those soulless black eyes. She clenched a fist and Tatsumi could hear the knuckles crack. He backed away, though Sunako could obviously see the concern on his face. She relaxed her gaze and spoke softly to him as she patted his head.

"You're still so naïve Tatsumi. This "Sora" is a threat to our very existence. After all, you said that he knew of our arrival somehow. A person privy to that kind of information can be very... **very** …dangerous. And we're having trouble controlling the new shiki as it is. We are going to tie both to trees in the forest and let them burn for hours until they are a smoldering pile of ashes." Sunako looked away, a slight pang of guilt nibbled at her.

"Wait? Why Megumi?" Sunako shot him another derisive glance.

"She attacked you to try and save him. We are going to make an example of both so that none of the others will ever defy us even slightly. Besides, it would punish both of them even more to watch their most precious person suffer….it would be like you being forced to watch the same happen to me." A sick feeling flushed over Tatsumi.

"But mistress! I will protect you no matter what, your every wish is my command…. _though I can't help thinking that this is going a bit too far...more is the pity I guess."_ Sunako gave Tatsumi a hollow smile.

"Thank you, you are also very… _useful…._ precious to me too." She said, unenthusiastically. "Now go check on them, it's been three days, and he should be dead by now." Tatsumi bowed to her and reluctantly exited the room. He left through a back door and walked the edge of the mansion. There was a large stone wall surrounding the perimeter of the property and Tatsumi stretched out one of his hands and started to trail it. He stepped slowly and deliberately paying close attention to the splendid craftsmanship of the carvings imbedded into the stone, which in itself was flawless granite. He admired the way that every nook and cranny sparkled in the moonlight. The polished surfaces almost glowed in the haunting light.

"Man, we sure did build this place to the nines." Tatsumi said as he touched the face of a statue.

"It truly is beautiful, I've lived almost a hundred years but nothing has quite matched it in my eyes." Tatsumi heard that familiar voice greet him, he turned to see a young woman…young looking at least. She had long blonde hair along with a perfect curved figure. Though she shared that same pale skin and those black soulless eyes Sunako had.

"Chizuru? What are you doing here, did you finish feeding" Tatsumi said, trying to spark a conversation.

"Ages ago. What about you? Doesn't Sunako have some errand for you to run?" Tatsumi leaned against the statue.

"Yeah, I'm going to fetch that girl and her lover." He said stoically.

"The ones who tried to run away from the village? What does she want them for? Didn't you already teach them the error of their ways?" Tatsumi smiled.

"Pretty savagely if I do say so myself. I must have broken five or six of that guy's ribs, along with his arm." He said, chuckling as he remembered the look on Sora's face. "Gotta admire him though, he might have howled in pain like a trapped coyote but he still looked defiant. At least until he passed out from the shock….but." Tatsumi looked serious again.

"But what?" Chizuru said, smiling warmly at him.

"Sunako wants me to tie them both to trees and let them burn to a crisp in the daylight." She looked at him curiously; as if she were thinking of saying something differently then she had planned.

"I don't necessarily agree with it, but Sunako is wiser than both of us, she knows what she's doing so I have complete faith in her as should you." Tatsumi smiled.

"It's not like I'm unwilling, I just would have done something differently. I love Sunako but it doesn't mean I am her. We can disagree, I just have to fall in line is all... _this whole plan might lead to ruin, but I'd follow her to the ends of the earth._ " Tatsumi said with a smile.

"I know you will Tatsumi. But I think it's good to talk about these things with friends, even if it won't change the outcome." Tatsumi's eyes widened.

"Friends?" he asked with a sly smile.

"it's not like I'm going to pal around with any of the fledglings, and besides, Seshiro is a stiff, not to mention he's still human. I feel like eating him every time we cross paths." She laughed haughtily.

"Sunako will always be my number one, but I could do for worse company Chizuru" Tatsumi smiled back with that same wolfish grin. "Look, I can't keep Sunako waiting, so I'd better go." Tatsumi continued along the perimeter of the wall as chizuru waved him off.

**Earlier that morning.**

"*gasp*" Sora shot awake instantly. He sat up quickly. So quickly that he didn't notice the arm Megumi had wrapped around him, it still clung to his shoulder and consequently the force of Sora's jerk lifted the top half of her body several inches from the ground. Her head still drooped however. Sora pried the stiff cold fingers away from himself and neatly tucked the arm, and Megumi, back under the blanket.

" _Damn, they sleep through anything during the day…"_  Sora thought intensely for a moment. " _Something seems off…."_ His eyes grew wide. And he felt around his body scanning for injuries. "where…I thought Tatsumi broke a few of my ribs, not to mention my arm…but not even the bruises are left…though...my jaw aches pretty badly" Sora spent a moment massaging his cheek before he shot a glance towards Megumi, freshly covered from head to toe in the blanket the two had shared. "I told Megumi it was okay to feed on me…..she must have given me some of her blood, that explains why my injuries healed… _I'm honestly kind of touched….though I can't sit here all day…I'll have to give Seshin a proper goodbye, then come back to get her….Tatsumi will probably come back to check on us…though maybe this time I can convince him to just let us leave, or…maybe he'll force me to work for Sunako…..i guess as long as I'm with Megumi I don't mind if Sotoba becomes a vampire village….then again Seshin should be able to correct it so we still might get away….I'll just have to see what happens I guess."_ Sora walked over to where his clothes were piled and put them back on again, stretching his whole body. He felt incredibly stiff from lying on the ground for three days and rejoiced every time he could feel a joint pop; he let out a small sight of ecstasy as he felt his body relax. He walked over to the windows and used the spare blanket Megumi had lying in the corner to cover the glass, blotting out the light even further. Then he walked out of the cabin. As soon as the sunlight hit him directly he had to shield his eyes.

"Gah. Its bright today." Sora didn't bask in the sunlight for long when he felt his stomach rumble. "Hungry….REALLY hungry, more than I've ever been….i guess Megumi wasn't feeding me…and….." Sora's whole body twitched when a familiar sensation crept up in his pants. He ran off to do his business. .."I guess she wasn't taking me to use the bathroom either" he said as he shivered a little bit. After a sickening feeling he set back on the path to Sotoba. "Where am I? _Hmm, I can hear cars coming from the east so the village must be that way."_ Sora set off in that direction despite his persistent hunger. It seemed like each step hollowed the pit in his stomach even larger. He was walking for at least an hour before he made it back to one of the village roads, and at that point food was the only thing he could think of. His stomach growled angrily as he stepped into the Sotoba shopping district.

" _the cars here are really loud…I've been walking for an hour and now the noise is starting to bother me…or….not…..hmm….it got a little quieter. *grrrrr* god I'm so hungry…anyway I need to get to se-"_

"Sora!" a look of dread crept over his face when he recognized that familiar voice.

" _Fantastic…._ Kaori, hi!" he said as he forced a polite smile.

"I haven't seen you at school for a few days, the junior monk said you had been sick, but I'm glad to know you're feeling well enough to walk around town. So whatcha up to?" she said as she flashed him an overly friendly smile. Sora cringed on the inside but didn't want to upset Kaori, so he returned it in kind.

"Oh, just wandering around town… _listening to her makes me really hungry…_ trying to take my mind off of it all." Kaori shot him a sad look. " _She looks like a kicked puppy, I wonder what puppies taste like…er...really sad…."_

"Thinking about Megumi right?" she looked away as tears started to bead up in her eyes.

" _Smells salty…..that makes me hungry…._ how'd you guess?" he said, clutching his stomach.

"You two were stuck together like glue before she died. I thought I was close to her too, and losing her ripped my heart out, I can't imagine what you feel." She said, her lip quivering.

" _I feel hungry…._ well, it's all over but the crying I guess." Sora said as he wiped drool away from his mouth.

"Megumi would want us to stay strong for her…hey is something wrong?" she said dejectedly.

"Yeah I'm starving, do you mind if we grab a bite to eat?" Sora said, wiping more drool away from his chin.

"Uh….okay." Kaori smiled again and led Sora to one of the street venders.

"One small order of rice please." Kaori said as she greedily dug into the pile. The man running the stall looked at Sora and felt an icy tendril of fear creep down his spine. Sora smiled back wolfishly as he gnawed at the corner of his lip.

"Yeah, I'll get two extra-large orders of rice, some takoyaki, octopus dumplings, oh, some of that trout sashimi too…" the man was looking at him with that same concerned look. "Hey pal? You getting any of this? I'm starving here, anyway also, a few watermelon slices maybe six, and one of those desert dumplings." He said, barely able to focus as the smell of the food hit his nostrils. " _Wow…it smells so intense; I can't wait to dig in."_ The man gave him an extremely concerned look now; Sora could smell the sweat on his forehead.

"Are…you joking?" the man said nervously. Sora glared at him.

"Do I look like I'm joking man?!" Sora snarled.

"Right right! I'm sorry!" the man pleaded. Sora smiled.

"So what's the damage?" Sora said, fishing around in his pocket. Kaori was looking at both of them curiously.

"Just take it and go… _his eyes_!" the man shouted, handing Sora the piles of food he asked for. Sora smiled and thanked the man profusely, but he simply shouted at him to leave. So Sora walked away with Kaori into a secluded spot to eat. Immediately Sora started demolishing the pile of food while Kaori looked on in shock.

"So *munch* what do you *chew* think that vendors problem was *gulp* *beeeeelch*" Sora said with a full mouth.

"I…I'm not sure, and he just gave you all of that food for free…..whoa you shouldn't eat that fast!" Sora finished the last of the food in mere moments, using his shirt to wipe away the mountain of crumbs left on his face.

"Anyway, I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat." Sora said absentmindedly as he started to drool again... " _jeeze the food here isn't very filling, it's like I ate almost nothing, but damn it sure is full of flavor, I've never tasted anything so intense in my life!...*grrrr*_ Sora's stomach growled again. Kaori backed away.

"But Sora, you just ate all that food, how could you possibly be hungry." He whipped his head around towards Kaori.

"I'm hungry Kaori, I'm gonna get some food." He said as he walked an inch closer... Kaori could hear an almost feral sound in his voice. And when she looked at him she froze in fear.

"But…Sora, you already ate." Sora flashed a predatory smile at Kaori.

"I know, but I'm hungry, I'm gonna get some food. I haven't eaten in a long time." He said as she backed away in fear. Her back hit the wall and Sora put a hand next to her head.

"Hey, what's wrong? Your acting like that guy…..god I'm hungry, hey Kaori, do you have any food?" Sora said savagely. He pushed in closer to her, but she could only turn her head away, Sora was drooling profusely now and Kaori tried all she could to push him away, but he seemed to have an unearthly strength as he leaned in closer.

"Sora you're scaring me!" she squealed.

"You know, you talk WAY too much, did you know that? It makes me hungry. Your look really scared too, why? It makes me hungry. I'm hungry." Sora said, his voice nothing more than a growl. He leaned in closer to a scared Kaori, who was already in tears. "I'm hungry Kaori…really….REALLY hungry. I'm downright starving!" Sora made a strange grunt and smiled sadistically, Kaori pitifully wiped drool away.

"Okay Sora, we can get more food! But please, stop acting like this!' she said as Sora pushed closer. His face was almost touching her cheek

"You know…you smell DELICIOUS!" Sora said. And in the next moment, he could feel himself bite into the soft flesh of her neck.

**stay tuned to figure out what happens next muahahahaha, leave a review, kudos comment ect ect.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora realizes his powers and tatsumi gets to work

**MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, SORRY I COULDNT GET THIS OUT SOONER BUT I WANTED TO WRITE A BIGGER CHAPTER TO MAKE UP FOR THE SMALLER ONE LAST TIME, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIER, LIKE/FAVE/FOLLOW ECT ECT AND HAVE A WONDERFULL TIME IN YOUR HOLIDAYS AND READING X3**

Sora could feel himself moving. Everything was automatic in his frenzy and it was as if he were trapped in his own mind, looking out on his body acting of its own…foul….will. The fangs that had sprouted behind his canines plunged deep into Kaori's neck, piercing a vein. Sora could taste the blood flowing into his mouth, though the fangs were drawing it right into his bloodstream like a hypodermic needle. Other than the ecstasy Sora noticed as he unconsciously fed, was a sharp painful sensation. It took him a moment to think about it, but then he realized that those fangs must have ripped right through his gums. This was soon replaced with a sort of "swelling" sensation. That's how Sora would best describe it. It only took moments, but Sora was soon feeling truly full. Truly satisfied. More so than any other meal he'd had in years. He regained control and hastily pulled away from Kaori, leaving two thin drips of blood sliding down her neck.

"Oth gwad kathowi. I'm swowwry!" he stuttered as his tongue rasped against his fangs " _how do I pull these back in?"_ Sora fumbled his tongue around trying to see if something would click, but nothing seemed to draw his fangs back. Finally he started moving his jaw around, clicking and popping. Suddenly he became aware of new muscles in the roof of his mouth. Figuring out how to use them was a bit tricky, but soon enough retracted the fangs back into their holes, grimacing as the flesh healed over them…." _its…..almost like popping my knuckles…"_ he thought. Then he looked over at Kaori who was slumped on the ground, dazed but still alive. Some sort of instinct prompted Sora to turn her head to stare him straight in the eyes. "please don't tell anyone about this, forget you saw me today alright….try to get well… _she'll never just listen to me, knowing her she'll probably squeal about this to the first person who walks by…good thing I'm getting out of here soon."_ Sora left her sitting, slumped over before he ran off. Kaori mumbled for a moment.

"Don't tell…..never met today?" she thought as her mind clouded over.

Sora ran slowly away from the alleyway Kaori was still slumped in, occasionally looking back to make sure she was okay.

" _I gotta find somewhere to cool off…I'm not thinking straight…I need to retrace my steps and calm down!"_ Sora said as he wearily glanced around….finally he noticed a sign.

"Oogowa liquor" emblazoned in black letters on a white background.

Sora reluctantly made his way to the door when he heard something from inside. As quickly as he could he leapt to the side just as a large man with a buzz cut flew through the door, breaking it from its hinges. The man landed with a thud and Sora noticed blood dripping from his nose. He almost had to cover it when the smell of the store wafted along.

" _Bleghh alcohol! Whiskey always did burn my nose, but never like this, and never from so far away."_ Sora cringed. He could hear footsteps and instantly his head whipped around to greet an even larger man, with an equally large beard raising a fist and cursing at the man on the ground.

"Atsushi you no good piece of shit! I told you to stock those bottles ten minutes ago!" he turned to see Sora poised like a cat looking at him with bewildered grey eyes. "What the hell do you want kid?"

Sora tried to put on a confident air but ended up stuttering anyway.

"i-I just wanted to use your bathroom." He said. Bracing himself to take a punch like the guy on the ground.

"Can't you read? This is a liquor store. No kids allowed." The man said through glaring eyes and a permanent scowl.

"It will just take a second…come on I'm desperate." Sora said with a half-smile.

"Fine…but only for a moment….and remember. I'm watching you." the man led Sora into the direction of the men's restroom and he hurried in quickly. Sora walked to the sink and splashed some water on his face. He stared into his reflection and began to think.

" _Okay….you walked out of the mountain shack making sure Megumi was out of sunlight….you met Kaori…and then there was that hunger…..it was like nothing I've ever felt. It was the most painful hunger I've ever experienced…and then…I bit her…why…why would I bite her?"_ Sora stared into his eyes. His pupils looked normal. They had the same greenish grey color they always had. He kept staring, it took several seconds, but he saw them flash red and black. He nearly jumped ten feet back in shock. After a moment to pick up his courage he walked back to the mirror. "Okay…. _maybe I really did bite Kaori….then those fangs, that wasn't just a dream?"_ Sora thought back to the weird muscles in the roof of his mouth, he opened wide and produced two gleaming white fangs. He felt sick but there was one thing he knew he still had to do.

"Red eyes…fangs? That…that doesn't prove anything!" Sora thought about it and fished around in his pocket. "Where the hell was that knife I had?" Sora flashed back to Tatsumi breaking the blade in half. "Tatsumi…..TATSUMI!" Sora screamed with rage as he slammed a fist into the mirror. Brilliant slices of glass and silver rained down all around him and in a moment of morbid brilliance Sora picked up one of the shards. "Okay….if what I'm thinking holds true then this shouldn't backfire." Sora grimaced and dry heaved as he raked the tip across the back of his hand, making sure all the while to dig it in deep. He saw the blood flowing out of the deep gouge for only a split second. He took a second look and felt a pleasant cooling sensation as he saw the cut heal itself. Sora felt tears pouring down his cheeks. When the realization dawned on him.

"So…this means *hic* I'm no longer human….im a shiki now…" Sora thought for a moment. Something was off. "Wait…wait just a minute….i was out in the sunlight and I ate normal food." A devilish smile crept across his face. "I'm a jinrou?! Hahahahahahaha! Of all the things." Sora laughed like a madman. Even though he'd lost a portion of his humanity this still seemed like the first bit of good fortune he'd received since he landed in the temple on that fateful night. "I'd never thought in a million years id turn into this! Of all the luck! I might as well have just won the lottery!' Sora wiped a tear away from his eye. Then an even bigger realization hit him. 'this means I have the power to help Megumi…hell, maybe the whole village….provided it's not too inconvenient to me of course" he chuckled haughtily. "But first….i needs to talk to Seshin."

"Hey you done in there?! What was that crash?' Sora heard the booming voice shout out to him. He scoffed at the mirror and walked out of the bathroom greeting oogowa with a sly smile.

"Oh, terribly sorry about that. I was feeling weak for a moment and tripped into one of the stall doors." The man glared at him and grabbed his wrist tightly.

"I remember you. You're that little shit who destroyed the Kanemasa mansion. What, were you planning on stealing some of my product and throwing a party too? I know your kind, outsiders always cause trouble." He said as he tightened the grip on Sora's wrist.

"Buzz off pal, I'm not interested in your crappy booze" Sora said. The look on Oogowas face was priceless. His rage almost broke reality. He raised a fist and moved to slam it clean into Sora's face. Sora looked at it coming closer.

" _It's….slow…"_ Sora quickly caught it in his free hand. He started to get angry too and began to clench down tightly. He could hear knuckles popping and Oogowa looked like he was in pain. Sora smiled. " _Awe does that hurt?"_ He thought tauntingly. He clenched harder and Oogowa began sweating and letting out a low groan. Sora could barely contain the laughter as he was filled with a raw sadistic glee. " _Yeah…suffer!"_ suddenly Sora snapped back into reality and let go of Oogowa's fist. Both exchanged shocked glances. "i….im sorry about that" Sora said, exasperated…" _what was that just now? I hate hurting people! Why did I think like that?_ Look…I'm sorry about inconveniencing you." he looked over at oogowa who was now cradling his hand.

"Just, get out." He said in a low growl. Sora sighed and left quickly. But suddenly the man who was lying on the ground caught him by the shoulder. He smiled and tears started to drip from his eyes.

"I….i saw you put the hurt on my dad just now…." Sora looked at him curiously.

"What of it?" Sora asked.

"Can I live vicariously through you?!" the man squealed. He grabbed soras hands as if he were a movie star being harassed for an autograph. Sora quickly retracted them and smiled politely.

"Go for it man." He said as he walked off.

Several minutes later Sora was faced at the temple gates.

"I…I can't go in? It seems like there's this overwhelming fear preventing me from doing so….."Sora took a deep breath and proceeded. Though each step was heavy. " _Oh god, I'm gonna die here, I just know it….Gah….this…I've never felt so terrified"_ he heard a noise flutter in the background and nearly screamed. It was Seshin. He put his hand on the teens shoulder.

"Sora?" he said, with an almost heartbreakingly happy smile. "You need to come in here and talk with me!" his face turned to angry concern.

" _oh right….i can't go anywhere unless I'm invited in….Megumi said that the fear would slowly build up until my mind shattered…_ no problem, the least I owe you is an explanation." Sora smiled as the two sat and drank tea. He looked around the room. But what always caught his eye about this sight was the irregularly shaped table they used, almost like it was a section cut straight from a strange tree, and for all Sora knew, it very well may have bee.

"So….start from the beginning Sora, I've been worried about you….i had to tell everyone that you got the same sickness that's been going around the village…." Sora looked at Seshin guiltily.

"Well…the night I left…Megumi came back. We talked and got close again, and in a heat of the moment thing I suggested we just up and leave the village…I figured that you could handle keeping it safe." Seshin looked a bit hurt.

"So you were thinking with something other than your mind? Let me guess…Megumi betrayed you or something right?" Sora looked at him and laughed.

"no not like that at all, Megumi was by my side the whole time…we were about halfway out of the village leaving through the mountains…but I guess Tatsumi, Sunako's right hand... had been tracking us." Sora could feel a deep rage welling up. Seshin looked over and saw his eyes flash red and black for a moment. "He cut us off and beat me nearly to death…broke my arm, and probably several ribs…he even crippled Megumi, but vampires heal through anything so she recovered in moments. I blacked out at some point from the pain…worst I've ever felt…." Seshin shot Sora a curious glance.

"But…you look like you're in perfect health, injuries like that don't just heal in a matter of days." Sora could feel himself growing angrier by the second.

"That bastard! If only he would have just stayed out of the way Megumi and I could have had a happy life together! What could he possibly have gained by doing that to us?!" Sora slammed his fist into the table, but the force shattered the wood and his hand went clean through to the other side. He awkwardly pulled it out.

" _Such strength….._ calm down Sora….just tell me the rest of what happened.' Seshin said as he put his arm around Sora's shoulder.

"I woke up a few hours later in one of those abandoned mountain shacks, Megumi tending to my wounds...I'll have to ask her what happened while I was under…. _and if Tatsumi did anything to her, ill rip his spine out of his throat!"_ Sora clenched a fist so hard one of his fingers broke.

"Sora! Let me get some ice for that!" Seshin said, wide eyed and surprised….the look on his face when the bone set itself back and healed was even more priceless.

"Sorry….lost my temper again….anyway. I told Megumi to finish feeding on me since I didn't want Tatsumi hurting her any more than he already had…we….sort of….did…..stuff…." soras face went beet red. "And then she fed again. The next night I wasn't awake for much, but I guess she finished the job."

"But if she did, then that means…" Sora smiled sadly at Seshin as he started to put the pieces together.

"Yep….im not quite human anymore. I guess I rose as one of those special shiki. The ones that can go out in the daylight, have crazy strength and senses, oh and immortality….always a plus…I'm not sure why I turned into this as opposed to dying or just becoming a normal vampire, maybe it was because I gave my blood willingly, or because it was taken from someone I love…or maybe I'm just so god damned stubborn that I refused to accept anything less than the best…if you can call this, best….but thems the brakes, and I can't change it." Seshin looked at him, trying his best to wrap his mind around the situation.

"I don't see any downsides to being like this Sora." Sora laughed.

'well…I always wanted to grow a beard….i guess I can't if I'm stuck at age 18 for all eternity…oh yeah, and the eternal life thing…definitely not good." Seshin nearly spat his tea.

"People have been searching for immortality since the dawn of man, and you're telling me it's not good?" Seshin was utterly floored.

"Hell yes it's not good! The only reason I can tolerate it is because Megumi is a vampire too and she'll live forever with me, but how long until we get bored of each other? A hundred years? Two? Then what will we do for the next eternity? Wander the earth aimlessly until someone has the good sense to jam a stake into our hearts? Not to mention any non-vampire friends I make will die before my eyes, and the vampire friends I do make ill just get bored of eventually, they too will get fed up with me. Then again… maybe our minds are wired to accept eternity and the feelings we have now are the ones we'll have forever…god I sure hope it that way" Sora said….forcing his mind to think of things besides his eternity.

"I guess you might have a point…but I'm sure someone will get the better of you before then." Seshin said with a genuine smile. Sora only stared at him crossly.

"There's that morbid motivation of yours again…" he said with a grunt. "Well to finish the story, I woke up in my current state, covered Megumi up and made my way back here….i also accidentally fed on Kaori, but she'll be fine. And I think I broke the liquor store owners hand, that was when I realized what I had become…..i just came back to give you a prober goodbye. I'm taking Megumi and getting out of here for good…or at least I hope so."

"You hope so? What about Sotoba. You're just going to let this place burn?"

"Well…i… I don't know…..maybe I just want to keep Megumi safe so badly that I'm willing to risk anything including causing deaths I could prevent" a knot of guilt burned in soras stomach " _maybe I should help them out…that was the original plan…but I got so wrapped up with Megumi I lost sight of it…._ I'll think about it…okay Seshin…look I gotta go check up on her, its nearly twilight" Sora finished his tea and walked off. Heading right through the thicket of trees in the direction of that hut.

**Meanwhile**

"Man….Sunako is serious about this….i wonder where she hid him at? Or maybe she didn't even feed on him at all and took him to safety…I guess I can just beat the answers out of her when she wakes up" Tatsumi looked over at a slumbering Megumi. She was bound and gagged; Tatsumi had studded her in a corner away from direct sunlight. Though it was nearly night now and the sun was almost completely set.

"Mhh…mhh hmm? Agh?" Megumi woke up and immediately squirmed and tried to break free of her restraints.

"Ah, I see you're up. I'm just gonna come straight out and say it." He took the gag out of her mouth and stared menacingly into her eyes. "Why the hell didn't you kill him?"

"What? Agh!" Tatsumi slapped her.

"Don't play dumb. Where is the body?!" he shouted.

"He should be right there…" Megumi's eyes widened when she noticed Sora wasn't in the cabin. 'where did he go?!" Tatsumi kicked her in the stomach as hard as he could. She coughed up blood and began crying.

"I'm only going to ask you this one more time…where is he?" Tatsumi growled. Megumi turned her head away as Tatsumi pressed his face closer.

"I don't know" he punched her in the cheek and she cried even harder. "I really don't Tatsumi! You have to believe me! I fed on him three nights in a row, with his other injuries he should have died by now" she sobbed. "Why couldn't you just leave us alone? We weren't a threat to you guys, we didn't care what happened" Tatsumi threw a few more punches. He kept looking at her with a blank angry stare.

"Alright…let's try this, tell me where he is right now or I'll kill you." he glared as he raised another fist.

"I'm right here." Tatsumi's head turned to see Sora standing in the doorway, nonchalantly swinging the key to the hut on his finger.

"You?! How are you even standing?!" Tatsumi screeched.

"Don't worry about that. What I wanna know is how you didn't hear me approaching. We have crazy senses don't we?" he said casually to Tatsumi.

"We?" Tatsumi inquired. "Whatever…all I know is I have to kill you myself now. Sunako is gonna be really pissed now…and here I was gonna try and plead your case." Sora laughed heartily.

"Here's my counter offer. I'm gonna take Megumi out of here and you can walk away with your life." Sora said as he smiled devilishly. Tatsumi started running at him while he shouted.

"Don't you remember what I did to you last time? You won't rise after I break your neck." Tatsumi said as he readied a punch.

"Have it your way, just remember I gave you an out." Sora ducked right as Tatsumi swung and readied a fist of his own. He slammed into Tatsumi's stomach with every ounce of supernatural strength he had and Tatsumi went flying into the wall on the other side of the hut. Tatsumi strained to speak. The wind had been thoroughly knocked out of him. All he saw was Sora walking closer to him. Slowly. With those same burning red eyes Tatsumi himself had come to know so well.

"You mean *cough* you're like me?" Sora smiled.

"Yep. Though I gotta admit, I don't know my own strength yet. I just meant to check your punch; I'm not fond of hurting people. When was the last time you fed, you're like three times my size, even with powers like these, you should be more than my match." Tatsumi coughed up some blood.

"It's been about three days *cough* Sunako's been keeping me busy." Sora smiled sadistically.

"I'll give you one more chance to leave. You aren't in any shape to fight me right now…especially considering I fed a few hours ago. I'm not really sure how long it takes for our strength to deplete but I can smell the weakness on you from way over here." Sora cracked every knuckle on his hand at once by pulsing his fingers.

"Sorry. I have to take you two to Sunako." Tatsumi said as he ran at Sora again. The result was much the same. Sora sent him careening into the wall again. Then he looked at Megumi. She was slumped over. Tied up and covered in blood. He could feel that same rage building up inside himself again.

"What did you do to Megumi?" he asked quietly. He stepped even closer, merely inches away from Tatsumi's face. Tatsumi shot back a defiant stare.

"I had to "extract" information from her." He said with a half-smile. Sora grabbed his hand and snapped one of his fingers. Tatsumi let out a quiet scream.

"You…hurt Megumi…. You hurt her even worse than you did me from the looks of it… _what am I doing, I should just leave…but I feel so angry."_ Sora broke another finger. And Tatsumi screamed even more loudly. "Hehehe" Sora felt that familiar sadistic glee bubble back up. And this time Tatsumi's scream caused him to burst out laughing. Mad, pained laugher that brought tears to his eyes. He snapped the third finger on Tatsumi's hand butt his time proceeded to twist the bone. It made a sickening crunching noise. "Hahaha! What a satisfying crunch! Sora was beaming like a child.

Tatsumi tried to throw a punch to ward Sora off, but Sora caught his fist similarly to the way he had the man at the liquor store. This time he couldn't control himself and crushed it in his hand as hard as he could. It seemed like every bone in it broke or fractured, but Sora wasn't done, he bent it back, back as far as it would go. Another crunching snap and it was finally at that disgusting unnatural angle. Tatsumi let out an even more enraged pained scream. Sora meanwhile just laughed, harder than he'd ever before. He placed his palm on the flat part of Tatsumi's arm. He pressed. Softly at first, but gradually increased the strength he was using. Tatsumi writhed in agony as he could feel the bone splinter until it finally gave and it snapped too.

"Ah I can see your injuries aren't healing very fast. Gotta drink more blood, buddy…. _my body is moving on its own, it's like earlier today at the liquor store!_ " Sora said in a friendly way, while at the same time digging his thumb into the palm of the hand he didn't crush. He pressed that in deeply too. And all Tatsumi could do was try his hardest to writhe and squirm away. But since Sora had the upper hand, he wasn't going anywhere. Finally Sora's thumb popped through all the way to the other side, almost like a piecing. He curled that thumb and began to pull. He was pulling out in the horizontal direction, ripping through ligaments and flesh all the while. That burning pain sent Tatsumi into a frenzy, he squirmed and threw punches directly into Sora's face. But Sora was in such a trance that the pain wasn't even phasing him. The only thing on his mind was the pure sadistic joy of making his bitter enemy suffer like this.

"Awe poor baby! Does it hurt? Does it? Hahahahaha! _Why can't I control myself?!_ " Sora used his off hand and jammed one of his fingers into Tatsumi's eye socket. He crushed it. Pulled his hand out and licked the fluid that coated his hand. "Gah this is the most fun I've had in a long time, I gotta tell you buddy, I am hard as a rock right now!" Tatsumi could to little more than twitch at this point. Sora too was starting to lose his mind completely. Stopping the torture and simply resorting to hitting and punching him as fast and as hard as he could. He dragged Tatsumi to the door and slammed it on his face several times making sure to take in the delicious scent of his blood. He dropped Tatsumi and shattered the door. Grabbing one of the jagged wooden pieces he turned Tatsumi over. "See you in hell you bastard! … _no! No! I don't want to kill him!"_ Sora slammed the stake down but caught himself right before it pierced Tatsumi's chest. He had to hold himself back. It took everything he had not to kill him at this point, especially when the scent of his blood was hanging so deliciously in the air. He dropped the wood and backed away slowly.

"What am I doing?" he said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Sora?" Megumi said quietly. Sora turned around and walked to her.

"Are you okay?" he touched her cheek, but she tried to back away, a futile effort when she was tied up.

"I…I don't know…what the hell happened to you?" she said, panic rising in her voice.

"I'm not sure….i just got so angry when I saw that he'd hurt you, and when I remembered what he'd done to me… is this what you mean by that uncontrollable feeling?" she warmed up a little bit.

"It's a little different for everyone I guess." She said quietly.

"I'm just glad you're safe" he wrapped his arms around her. "Let's get out of here…to the temple for now."

"What about Tatsumi?" she said, staring at the broken man barely breathing on the ground next to them.

"I'm not sure how long it's going to take him to heal his injuries like this, but I'd rather not stay and observe it. Come on…"

**thanks again for reading, certainly hope you enjoyed hahahaha**


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora returns to the temple, natsuno sees something strange and tatsumi faces a bitter lesson

“Why...why are we going back to the temple…” Megumi said drowsily as she buried her head into Sora's back.  He had been carrying her for the last leg of the trip. The forest was growing rough, not to mention Megumi's fatigue from lack of blood.

“Trust me...I’d rather just leave and collect my losses, but we don’t have enough time to get to the next town by the end of the night. Not to mention that were totally unprepared. I can feel my strength starting to fade…what about you? You look so exhausted; I’m surprised you aren’t tearing my throat out” Megumi shot him a derisive look.

“We don’t get that feeling when we look at other vampires, I don’t know if I would be able to help myself if you were still normal.”

“I'M AM STILL NORMAL!” Sora shouted, bearing his fangs as he stared angrily at Megumi. She looked terrified but Sora's gaze softened.  “Sorry…. I’m just having a hard time adjusting to this.” Megumi dropped from his back. Sora turned around and felt a hot streak of pain rush across his cheek. He looked up in utter shock to see Megumi staring back angrily at him cradling an open palm.

“You're having a hard time adjusting?” she said in quiet disbelief.  “you got something one in a hundred shiki could only dream about, and you’re having a hard time adjusting?!”

 “I” Sora said meekly before Megumi started yelling again.

“Shut up! You can still enjoy normal food! You have the strength and senses to fight off a small army!! what do I have?! Less than half the day to find someone, forcibly take their blood and then hopefully still have enough time to try to do something fun. And GOD FORBID I force myself awake to enjoy a few moments in the daylight!”. Sora stared off, unable to appease his guilt.

“I’m sorry…. I tried as hard as I could to save you.” he lamented. Megumi’s anger all but vanished.

“What?!” she asked in disbelief.

“I knew what was going on when I went to visit you with Kaori. So that night I sat outside of your window with Seshin. When Sunako came I hit her with a rock… I should have killed her… I should have ripped out her heart with my bear hands!” Sora slammed his fist into a tree. Wood splintered off in all directions and left a sizable dent in its place….

“actually it was Tatsumi who finished me off….and some other jinrou with red hair.” Sora was too tired at this point to get angrier.

“Yoshie I think… id have killed him for sure if I knew that he was the one who finished you. I guess it doesn’t matter, now that I’m like this it'll be easy to protect you.” Megumi tried to hide a small smile. “anyway let’s get going.” she hopped back onto sora’s back and wrapped her arms around his neck. “ _I swear I won’t let you get hurt”_

The forest was pitch black though Megumi and Sora had no trouble seeing through the darkness, their vampiric powers allowed them that small luxury. Sora was running. He ran as fast as he could.  Even carrying Megumi, he was able to reach substantial speeds, at least four times as fast as a normal person could run. He leapt over valleys and dodged trees zigzagging along and enjoying the rush of wind in his face, megumi however was uneasy and voiced her concerns vocally, nagging him whenever Sora did something too dangerous. After a moment he saw the temples familiar lights in the distance. They sat starkly contrasting from the dense black forest. his eyes had adapted to night vision so the lights irritated him, the two squinted and hopped onto the steps. Megumi squeezed him tightly, Sora could feel her start to shake.

“What’s wrong?” he asked nonchalantly.

“It’s a temple, I’m a vampire. Do the math.” Sora sat silently for a moment, lamenting his stupidity. Then his face lit up.

“I’ve got an idea!” megumi blushed as Sora took off his shirt. He tore at one of the sleeves ripping it off in a clean strip.  “stand still” he said as he walked behind her. He threaded the sleeve over her eyes and tied it back, turning it into a makeshift blindfold.

“what’s the point of this?” she asked impatiently.

“if you can’t see this stuff it won’t bother you” he said with a smile megumi could no longer see.

“so do you just plan on keeping me like this?” Sora smiled devilishly.

“if you’re into that sort of thing.” Megumi took a swing at Sora who effortlessly moved out of the way. “aww learn to have a bit of fun. Just stay calm, ill figure something out.” She sighed.

“fine, I trust you.” She smiled reluctantly. Sora grabbed her shoulders and began to herd her into the temple gate. He made sure to keep to the sides to avoid being seen, constantly looking for Seshin. Once he was close enough to the room he’d been living in he quickly hurried megumi inside. a quick slam of the door and he untied megumi’s blindfold.

“you can live in this room with me until we figure out what to do from here” he saw her clutching her stomach. “you still need to feed…I forgot about that.”

“but I can’t leave the room or I’ll freak out. Can you send someone to come in here?” Sora laughed and walked up to her.

“I feel like we’ve done this before.” He said as he held his arm out to her.

“what? Will feeding on you even work?” she asked hesitantly. Like she mentioned earlier, she felt no prey drive, normally someone offering himself to her would have been an irresistible opportunity that she would have relished with sadistic glee, but looking at him now, and seeing the red in the eyes, she would be remiss to say she didn’t feel repulsed at the thought.

“only one way to find out” he said with determination. She hesitated a bit, almost like someone trying a weird foreign dish, before plunging her fangs deep into his arm. She began to draw blood, and Sora, for only a brief moment, though he heard the soft beat of her heart.

 

**Meanwhile**

Tatsumi crawled along the forest floor, Sora had done an impeccable job injuring him. If the two weren’t bitter enemies Tatsumi would have almost been proud of the sadistic drive Sora had tapped into. Something that marks a true jinrou, and separates them from the weaker shiki. He could feel his bones slowly creaking back into place, but without the fresh blood to speed the process it was slow going…. painful going. He felt as if every muscle and tendon in his body were stretching to their limit, on the verge of snapping.

“agh!” he cried out. “that. B-bastard. Once I tell Sunako what he’s done she’ll go to hell and back to destroy him.” He stretched himself over a thick pile of roots, being deliberately careful not to open his wounds any further. His legs had healed just enough for him to stand. Leaning up on a tree, he slowly pushed himself up, despite the pain. He made it to the path leading up to the mansion. He picked his pace up, spitting out the blood that had begun to pool in his mouth. Tatsumi laid a hand on the ornate red door.  He tried pushing it, but lacked the strength. He groaned as he strained against its thick frame, but alas, no luck. He felt his consciousness slipping away as the door started to open.

“Tatsumi! Oh my god, what happened?!” screamed a concerned Chizuru as she ran to him. He let go of the door and slumped over into her arms. She cradled him like that for a few minutes, her eyes were burning with such a strong concern that you could see it even through the sea of black.

“That kid with megumi….” He could see Sunako walking up beside chizuru, Tatsumi shuddered when he noticed what an icy stare she had.

“what’s this now? Why are you lying like that Tatsumi?” she said casually.

“m-mistress! It was that kid…Sora! The one you ordered me to take care of, he got the better of me.” She stared Tatsumi down with frightening disgust. “you have to send Yoshie and the other shiki after him or hell get away. Give me some blood so I can heal faster and finish what I started.” She swatted the hand he reached out for her away.

“you’ll do no such thing. I have no room for a servant who can’t handle even the most menial tasks. Chizuru. Get this... _thing…_ out of my sight, then tell Yoshie she’s my new lead. Be sure you fill her in on the details and of what needs to be done. I’m going out for a snack.” The two stared at her in disbelief

“mistress, you can’t be serious!” he pleaded. Sunako simply turned and walked away without a word. Despite tatsumi’s begging. Chizuru held him tightly as he struggled to call out for her.

“Tatsumi…I’m so sorry” he couldn’t even muster up the words to respond. He dragged himself away, but as he walked chizuru grabbed him and hugged him tightly. “please! Don’t go! I’m sure as soon as you heal up Sunako will take you back, she didn’t mean it!” Tatsumi swatted her aside. the air of a broken man hung thick around him. “ _don’t leave me alone like this”_ she secretly pleaded. Tatsumi could smell the tears dripping down her cheeks as he silently dragged himself away.

**Meanwhile**

“so kaori is sick too?” Tohru asked.

“yeah…its going around the village, close to a hundred people have died…. what the hell are you doing?” Natsuno exclaimed. He looked over and saw Tohru lying on his back head-butting Natsuno leg as he read a comic book.

“what do you mean?” he asked innocently as Natsuno sighed.

“anyway, I’m just telling you to be careful. but if you wanna get sick then it’s your own problem.” Tohru laughed a little.

“even if I did, it doesn’t always kill you, after all…Sora lived.” Natsuno glared at him.

“I don’t have much faith in a 1% survival rate.” Tohru laughed.

“there aren’t any absolutes natsu…” Natsuno gave him an icy stare.

“sure there are. I’m **absolutely** going to leave this village one day. And I’m **absolutely** not going to get sick and die like everyone else. Not in a place like this” he said as he clenched a fist.

“well I’m **absolutely** going to get something to drink, you want anything?” Natsuno waved him off without a word. Tohru’s goofy smile faded a bit, but he brushed the feeling aside and left the house.

Tohru smiled as he took in the air. “gahh I love it here. It’s always so peaceful” he said as he walked along the dark street. A lamp flickered in the distance as he reached the rickety old vending machine. He began to feed coins to the machine when he heard something a few feet away. “hey who’s there?” he asked kindly.

“*Sniffle* *hic* I’ve lost my mommy!” a little girl with long purple hair and pale skin sat with her knees to her chest on the other side of the machine. Tohru felt a pang of sympathy and knelt down in an attempt to comfort her.

“what’s wrong? Tell me about what happened?” for a brief moment the red flashed in her eyes and she smiled brightly, fangs bared.

“ _what’s with him…Tohru always seems so happy. How could he be? Living here is the worst….”_ Natsuno could feel his stomach growl. “maybe I should have asked him for something after all.” He said as he reluctantly lowered the blinds to stare at Tohru while he was outside, “huh…that’s weird, who is that little girl” Natsuno looked more closely. From the distance it was hard to make out what was happening, but he could have sworn he saw her jump up and bite his neck. He rubbed his eyes. But the two were just standing across from each other. “huh…maybe it was my imagination.” He closed the blinds and went back to lying down. A few moments later he heard the door creak open. “hey” he called out to Tohru. “who was that girl?” he asked. Tohru sat down in front of him, not even bothering to respond. Natsuno waited a moment and asked again. “Yo, Tohru.” Almost as if he’d been ripped from a deep slumber, Tohru turned his head around.

“sorry natsu…I’m just feeling a little out of it.”

“that’s rare, especially for you.” Natsuno scoffed.

“that girl was just a relative of mine…or something like that.” He said, staring off emptily.

“you mean you don’t know?” Natsuno asked impatiently.

“yeah…sure…whatever.” Tohru said emptily. Natsuno took a closer look at him and saw two thin trickles of blood pooling on the side of his neck.

“hey, did you scratch yourself?” he asked as he used tohru’s shirt to wipe it up. Tohru casually looked at it.

“oh. It’s nothing” Natsuno sighed.

“whatever. Your problem if it gets infected… _still…. your acting weird Tohru…”_

**_The next morning_ **

**_“_** gah, I’m really glad that still works” Sora exclaimed with a stupid grin. “ _I guess I don’t have to pull the blankets over megumi’s face, the room has no windows after all, though I doubt she’d appreciate me leaving her naked…. sei could walk in after all”_ he thought as he got dressed. He neatly pulled the blanket up to her chin. “sleep tight, I promise we’ll figure this out soon.” He gently kissed her forehead. He made sure not to let any sunlight hit megumi as he walked out of the room. Then felt a hand on his shoulder. He smelled the familiar smell of tea leaves and incense.

“Sora, I’m surmised to see you still here.” He turned to see Seshin smiling fondly at him. Sora nervously scratched the back of his head.

“yeah…well, a series of events transpired in such a way and to leave me in a position as to where a certain nocturnal mistress is under my care, and the option of leaving the village has, for now, escaped my grasp. The finer details of which don’t pertain to you, nor should they pique your interest.” Seshin gave him a perplexing look.

“in English Sora.” He sighed.

Sora took a deep breath…” stuff happened that you shouldn’t worry about, now I’m stuck taking care of megumi, and for the moment I don’t think it would be a good idea to leave the village. Not until I’m prepared. I’ll need to feed again to regain my strength, I had to let megumi feed on me so she wouldn’t lose herself and attack one of the workers here.” Seshin paused for a moment, adjusting his glasses.

“you brought her here? How did he even get in? this place is hallowed ground.”

“I blindfolded her until I slipped her into my room. She’s sleeping there now. I’d advise you not to open that door, the light will burn her up.”

“well I did need to tell you something.” Seshin said halfheartedly.

“yeah?” Sora asked curiously.

“Ozaki wants to see you. For now, he doesn’t know about your little transformation, he just thinks you’re the only survivor of the plague going around.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora goes to the clinic to see what ozaki wants

**here guys, new ttf chapter. its a little bit early but sinc you all are so awesome i thought id give it to you. also i have a question, would you like longer chapters less often, or shorter chapters more often?**

Sora dragged himself along the walk to Doctor Ozaki's clinic. The sunlight irritated his sensitive eyes, and the day was exceptionally hot, especially for someone who's senses were as acute as a jinrou. He glanced around wearily as he strode forward, hands in his pockets.

" _I can see them looking at me…. I can hear their hearts beating, pumping that fresh…. delicious…. blood. ever since megumi had her fill that nagging hunger has returned."_ Sora clenched over as a knot formed in his stomach. " _I wonder if I could just attack someone quickly"_ he thought as he made eye contact with a particularly fat villager. He wiped away a trickle of drool that was dripping down his chin. " _wait NO!"_ he shook his head vigorously as he got ahold of his composure. Almost as if he'd lost track, he found himself standing in front of the clinic. As he walked closer to the front door he could feel a fear, almost primal in nature, growing inside of him. "right…need invited in" he sighed. He squirmed and fidgeted as he walked up to the door. There was a timid knock followed by what seemed like an eternity of waiting until the doctor finally opened the door. Sora nearly gagged when the smell of tobacco, more powerful than ever, assaulted his nostrils.

"Sora, just the guy I wanted to see." He looked at the teen writhing uncomfortably, leaning away from the entrance of the clinic as he tried to avoid the harsh smell of smoke and antiseptic. "hey, no need to be nervous, step inside, I just want to talk with you." Almost as if a switch turned in his brain, that unparalleled fear evaporated like a drop of water on a frying pan, and as he walked into the clinic the smell dissipated to the back of his mind.

"so…. what's this about doctor." He asked wearily, checking his surroundings as the hunger started to swell. Ozaki guided Sora to the residential wing of the clinic and the two sat on a particularly comfortable couch.

"well…." He lit a cigarette. "you've heard about what's going on in the village right? All the deaths and sickness?" Sora could feel a pit in his stomach.

" _damn it Seshin, I thought you were doing something about that…_ yeah… what with living at the temple, I've seen my share of funerals." He feigned a guilty look. Almost in understanding, Ozaki stared at him a bit more warmly.

"I know you've lost someone close to you. But I also know that you had this same sickness. The one that's killed everyone else its touched. But for some strange reason you're still alive. I want to know why. And id maybe like to run a few tests on you. If I can figure out what makes you different I might be able to stop future deaths." Sora could feel a pang of guilt. Though it was short lived, it did give him an idea.

"tests? …. you think you could save people?" he said, trying to muster as much sadness as he could. Ozaki looked back, falling for the act. He flashed a sad smile at Sora.

"I know it won't bring megumi back…. but maybe it can help enough so that no more people have feel that kind of pain. I know what I'm asking is a lot, but it's my duty as a doctor to help in any way I can." Sora looked at him grimly.

"why was I the one who lived when she had to die…. I wish I could trade places…. _it's kinda fun messing with him like this, he doesn't know what is truly going on yet."_ Sora smiled internally as he kept up his guilty façade.

"please Sora." The doctor said, practically begging.

"all right…go get the equipment you need" Sora said, keeping up the same sad act. The doctor clasped his hands together and gave him a profound thank you before turning around and getting ready to walk out of the room. "I do have a question" Sora said as he walked behind Ozaki. He leaned in closely. "how many people are working in the clinic today?" Ozaki turned around to see Sora standing mere feet from him. He felt a slight pang of fear, but quickly dismissed it.

"it just me in here today, I cleared the whole place out so we could talk privately." Sora smiled devilishly.

"that's…perfect!" Sora said as he licked his lips. Ozaki gave him a curious look and turned around again. But Sora pounced on him in an instant, sinking his fangs as far as he could into the doctor's soft neck. He couldn't help but crack a smile when he saw how surprised the doctor looked, at least until his expression turned a familiar dull color, just like kaori had two days prior. Sora spent a long time draining as much blood as he could until he was at a point where he felt like the pressure might cause him to explode. He backed off, leaving the doctor to stand up slowly.

" _I wonder…can I hypnotize people like normal vampires?"_ he stared into the doctor's listless eyes. "ozaki. Listen carefully…. _what to say?_ " Sora paused for a moment, thinking hard for what he should order ozaki to do. "become my slave." The words felt like they weren't his. "from this point forward you are to obey every command I give you without question." Ozaki nodded in silent agreement. "first, I want you to get a blood pack, and administer it to yourself. I'll need you healthy for what I'm planning." Just as Sora ordered the doctor walked into the clinic, producing an intravenous rack with a liter of blood hooked into the drip system. Sora eyed it greedily, but soon grimaced, remembering how full he was. Ozaki wasted no time finding a vein and poking the needle though. He didn't even flinch from the pain. Sora slowly saw the doctor's demeanor start to uplift, and the life return to his eyes. One glimpse of surprise was all it took for Sora to realize a mistake he might have made. Just as quickly as before, Sora bit the doctor again. "remember your place" he hissed as the doctor calmed down again. " _should have thought of that first, more blood probably would dull the hypnosis. I'll just have to bite him every time I have him get a transfusion..._ alright, feeling any better?" ozaki lowered his head.

"it…. takes a few hours for anemia to wear off…can I speak freely for a moment?" he asked submissively. Sora nodded. "how often do you plan on doing this?"

Sora thought for a moment. "at least every other day, then again I suppose I could just eat the blood packs…. I'll still have to bite you though." Ozaki nodded knowingly.

"yes, I understand then. So what was it you needed me to do?" Sora smiled, this time with genuine warmth.

"I'm going to have you run some tests on me after all, I want to know the extent of the new powers I hold, but we'll worry about that later. For now, I want you to maintain your free will and normal attitude unless I give you the order otherwise." Almost like a mental switch ozaki leapt at Sora trying to swing a punch.

"what the hell are you doing" the doctor said through gritted teeth.

"calm down" Sora hissed. The doctor sat back, giving Sora a snide grunt. "I gotta say, I like the doped up version of you better, maybe I should change you back." Ozaki sighed and put his hands up. Sora nodded in acceptance, and the doctor lit another cigarette.

"I'd rather go willingly" he said, with a slightly angry look on his face.

"that's the spirit. honestly I'm still kinda new at this… I'd rather not hurt you…and I don't want the village to die either, but I have very good reasons why I can't, and won't, ever trust you. If I did, I would have just told you what was up straight off as opposed to putting you under my thumb. But we both know what kind of man you are." ozaki stared angrily at Sora.

"how could you possibly know? We've talked all of three times including today." He puffed some smoke in sora's face.

"okay first off, your gonna stop smoking, starting immediately" Sora said as the red flashed in his eyes. Reluctantly ozaki put it out on the table.

"come on, are you really going to degrade me like that? I'm not a child." He said with snide retort. Sora leered at him and smiled.

"I could make you walk around the village naked if you would prefer." Ozaki backed up.

"alright…alright, fine. Anyway, if you know what's going on in the village, can't you tell me?" Sora sighed.

"sorry…I wish I could, but I'd be a fool if I did." Ozaki looked at him with tired resignation.

"will you at least tell me how to prevent it?" Sora smiled at him.

"I suppose I could do that much…. like I said, I'd rather not even be in this situation….and don't worry, I'm not going to kill you or anything like that. Once this whole ordeal is behind us you can go back to our normal life and forget this whole thing ever happened." Ozaki looked impatient.

"okay, now tell me what I should be doing to keep these people alive!" He shouted.

"simple, just give anyone who shows up at the clinic sick with this disease a blood transfusion, then" Sora locked eyes with him. "call and tell me who it is and where they live"

"what? I can't give out confidential details like that!" sora's eyes flashed.

"that wasn't a request." He said as he gave the doctor a harsh stare.

"fine."

"now you're getting it!" Sora smiled enthusiastically. "Anyway for now I gotta get going, don't investigate this matter any further unless I give you specific direction. Just do what I tell you and live your life normally. it's not as if you have a choice anyway" He laughed to himself.

"wait, why are you letting me have my free will if you commanded me to be your slave?' ozaki asked with genuine curiosity. Sora shrugged.

"I just thought it would be kinda boring if you were moping around like a half dead thrall." He said coyly as he walked away. Doctor ozaki took a moment to think for himself, and to catch his breath after the exhausting debacle.

"I'll find out what's really going on, and what you are Sora… but, I'll try it your way for now…. _not like I have a better idea anyway, let alone a decision… I need a cigarette"_ ozaki sighed as he made a vain attempt to light one. Though true to sora's command, he was unable to force himself to flick the lighter open.

**That night**

Natsuno sighed as he lay back on tohru's bed. He took a quick glance around the room, snorting at all the posters and making himself more comfortable.

"Tohru…. are you sure you're okay?" Natsuno said, trying to hide his concern.

"yeah. I'm just tired." Natsuno looked at him closely, he could see the dark rings forming under tohru's eyes and he took a look at his skin. It was pale. "so this is the second night in a row you've stayed here." Tohru said. It wasn't a question, he just said it plainly as if the effort to wonder was beyond what he could muster at the moment.

"well if you don't want me to I can just leave." He said indignantly. Tohru never took eyes off of the video game he was playing.

"its fine." He said bluntly. Natsuno could feel the skin on his arms crawl, something about Tohru just wasn't right.

" _was it the thing from yesterday? Maybe Tohru is sick…. I guess I'll just wait it out, after all I'm sure his family would call the doctor if it got too bad"_

"we should get some sleep" Tohru interrupted Natsuno mid thought and it took him by surprise.

"so suddenly? I guess if you want." Natsuno said aloofly. Natsuno groaned as he stretched off of tohru's bed and into the pallet he still had left over from yesterday. "night" he said.

"hmm." Tohru replied as he turned over. Natsuno looked at him one last time, dismissing the unsettling thoughts in his mind.

Several hours later natsuno's eyes creaked open he tried to move his body. It wouldn't budge.

" _I haven't had sleep paralysis since I was a kid"_ he thought nonchalantly. It took a moment, but Natsuno noticed something off in the room. It was cold, colder than it ever could have been in the hot weather. He strained his eyes and glanced over. a dark figure was leaning over Tohru. " _what the hell? These hallucinations are always so weird."_ He tried to lean up, but found himself unable once more. He looked more closely, letting his eyes adjust to the total darkness. The figure pulled away and Natsuno notices a few red drips fall onto the cheek of a little girl. He shuddered when he noticed her pitch black eyes and alabaster skin, as pale as marble, contrasting sharply with the red stream. In fact, he would say she was even glowing in the moonlight. He watched as she stroked tohru's hair, giving him a twisted smile. Then crawled out of the window. " _what kinda dream is this?"_ Natsuno thought as he slowly drifted back to sleep.

**Later**

"Mr. muroi!" Seshin heard the familiar voice of a little girl as he finished dusting off the debris from the hole in the ceiling of the old temple.

"oh Sunako. How have you been doing?" he asked with a smile. She walked up closely and curtsied with her elegant dress.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to stop by the past couple of nights, but now that I'm not busy, I was hoping you could read to me again" she said in a sugary sweet little girl's voice.

"of course, anytime" he said with a smile. " _Sora…. I know how you feel…. but she doesn't seem evil…. maybe if you give her a chance you two could get along…. you could even convince her to stop attacking the villagers…_ chapter three…."

**hope you enjoyed, be sure to fave follow review and all that sugary goodness**


	21. Chapter 21

**here you all go, hope you enjot it!**

Natsuno rode diligently. He knew that nothing was likely wrong with Tohru, but since the dream, since seeing him stramble in like a zombie that first night, then that mysterious little girl on the second, he just wanted to be sure. It had been another night since then but he couldn't shake the dreadful feeling that had burrowed its way into his psyche. He shook his head in dismissal of his instincts.

" _why would I even care what happens…Tohru will be fine."_ He thought reassuringly as he pedaled vigorously.

Today was certainly gloomy enough to fit Natsuno's demeanor. There was a thick blanket of clouds in the sky, and sporadically, a light rain would start to pour. It made Natsuno's feet slip on the bike pedals. He shook the water out of his hair aloofly as he took a sharp turn down the street that tohru's home was located on. He peered down the road and noticed another bicycle parked close to the Moutoh residents' door. There were some letters scrawled on the flag sticking up from the seat, but Natsuno couldn't quite make them out from the distance he was at. Nevertheless, it made him even more concerned. He ditched his bike, letting it fall into a metal heap on their driveway as he ran up into the home. His heart dropped when he saw the words on the stranger's bike.

"Ozaki clinic"

"time of death…2:15 am…cause of death, acute heart failure…and severe hemorrhaging…. _it's too late to give this one a pint of blood…his father was the assistant doctor at my clinic, so I'm sure he just assumed he could handle it without bothering me…."_ Ozaki tried to light a cigarette, but that magical command prevented his hand from fishing out the lighter. He sighed as he stared over the lifeless body of the blonde teenager before him. He looked over to Mr. Moutoh. The man had his face buried in his son's chest, sobbing quietly. His mother held her other two children close, barely able to utter a word. Ozaki could read the shock on her face, clear as day. He bit his lip, he bit it so hard blood started to drip without him realizing it. The doctor turned away from the sorry scene to see a purple haired boy about the same age as Tohru looking upon the whole picture with utter terror.

"No." he said quietly. "I…. I was supposed to come here worried about him…. but he was just supposed to be okay. "don't worry about me Natsuno I'm all good". That's what was supposed to happen. That's what was supposed to happen!" Natsuno looked around the room with wide, nearly tearful eyes. He could only stomach one more second of the he heartbreaking scene before turning tail and fleeing as fast as he could. Ozaki reached after him, hoping to ask a question about tohru's well-being before…this… but Natsuno was too far away by the time Ozaki turned. He rubbed his eyes….

" _how many more scenes like this are there going to be?"_

**That night**

"but I'm BOOOORED!" megumi lamented as she wiggled around on Sora's futon, stretching her arms and legs as far as she could. Sora took a deep breath as she rolled around coyly. "you never let me leave here"

"well what do you want me to do about it? If I let you leave Sunako little militia will stake you on sight" Sora said with tired resignation. He gently poked her head with his foot and she made a playful attempt to swipe at it.

"I don't know…figure it out. Just do SOMETHING." She pouted. Sora smiled devilishly.

"we could fuck again" Sora said with a laugh. Megumi turned beet red, despite her pale vampire complexion.

"well….im not…. averse to the idea…. but can I feed on you first? You still don't know your own strength, so it kinda hurts when you're full" Sora couldn't help but giggle.

"hahahaha, sure. Today's blend is a special ab positive vintage from doctor ozaki…" Sora said with a fake accent. megumi wrinkled her nose as she plunged her fangs into Sora's arm.

*bump bump, bump bump* Sora locked eyes on megumi. Her eyes were closed, and she looked peaceful as she drank away. " _that noise again…. could it really be?"_ megumi pulled away after a few moments.

"cough* cough* "eww, it tastes like smoke!" she squealed in disgust as she wiped away the trail of blood dripping from her bottom lip.

"you're telling me…. hey megumi, what did my blood taste like?" he asked out of morbid curiosity.

"hmm…. Kind of sweet and savory…maybe…a bit oily." She said, remembering fondly. Sora laughed.

"that sounds about right hahaha. I pretty much eat nothing but junk food…. though it doesn't really satisfy me anymore..." Sora thought solemnly. " _right…that noise I heard…_ megumi, come over here for a second" she looked at him curiously, and he grabbed her wrist, placing his thumb on the vein.

"Sora…what are you doing?" she gave him a strange look.

"just be quiet for a second, I'm concentrating…." Sora felt the area diligently, trying to pick up any slight vibration he could. But there was no pulse, just like usual…. what WAS unusual however was Megumi's body temperature, and her complexion too.

"hey megumi, were you lying on something warm?" he asked curiously.

"no, nothing. why?" she asked innocently.

"you don't feel as cold as you usually do…" he took a closer look. "and you don't look as pale either…I can almost see some red in your cheeks" he studied her closely, her pink hair, buxom slim figure, and of course that gorgeous face. A face, that had, at least lately, been a sickly pale color. But now, her skin looked…almost…vibrant. Nothing like the light colored skin she had when she was human, but it certainly looked much healthier than it did.

"it's probably just the lighting." She said nonchalantly.

"but we're in a pitch black room with no windows" Sora retorted. "maybe it's my night vision… _or I really am delusional after all."_ Sora laid back on the swivel chair he was in, stretching his arms as far as he could. He yawned loudly, it was so powerful his fangs extended. He glanced back at megumi laying seductively on the futon. Her curves packed tightly into the pink mid-dress she was wearing. his eyes flashed red as a crooked smile grew on his face.

"what's that look for?" she asked coyly as she gave him a devilish smile. Sora walked closer, about to hold her in his arms.

*knock knock*

"FUCK!" Sora shouted angrily as the noise snapped the two from the romantic moment.

"Sora, there is a phone call for you." Seshin called out from behind the door. Sora glanced back at megumi lying down in the same position and pondered for a moment if he should dismiss the call.

"it's doctor ozaki right?" Sora lamented, still burning with desire he'd not get to attend to.

"yes actually. He said he wanted to let you know about "new information" or something like that" Sora took a deep breath and braced himself for what the doctor might say.

"alright, I'm coming…" he opened the door.

"wait, I want to come too." megumi said with determination.

"sorry, but you have to stay here, it would be dangerous to go with me when I have something to take care of." Megumi faux pouted at him. Then looked irritated.

"I'm not a child, I can take care of myself you know." megumi stared back defiantly.

" _you couldn't even outrun a tractor…._ I'm not taking you. End of story. I know it's boring here, but bear with me, I'll get us out of sotoba as soon as I possibly can." Seshin edged his way into the room.

"I can read you one of my novels if you want, I don't know if it's your genre, but I'd like to hear your opinion on it. It could prove entertaining to you." Seshin said with a warm smile. Megumi sighed.

"fine. Will you at least tell me what you're doing?" she said with sly retort.

"doctor ozaki wanted to see me today. He and the other villagers didn't know I turned into a jinrou, they think that I got the sickness going around but survived. Ozaki wanted to study me to see how to cure it. When he wasn't looking I bit him, and now he's more or less my slave." Seshin looked horrified.

"I know toshio might become a problem but you can't just kill him!" Seshin replied with fiery retort.

"relax, I'm not planning on it, I just told him to stop investigating the deaths and to call me anytime someone shows up sick with anemia or hemorrhaging. I also told him to give those people pints of blood." Both of them looked at him strangely.

"why do you need him to tell you who the sick people are?" megumi asked innocently.

"so I can convince the shiki feeding on them to join our cause. I'd just kill Tatsumi and Yoshie outright…. but even I couldn't take two jinrou at once…and he's probably pretty pissed about… what happened. But I figure if I chip away at Sunako's allies then I can get everything to go over peacefully."

"what about Sunako?" Seshin asked regrettably.

"I'll kill her myself." Seshin backed away. He could see Sora's eyes flash red. He knew Sora had turned into something else, but to see it up close was jarring.

"wait! I thought you didn't want to hurt any people!" Seshin pleaded. Sora locked eyes with him.

"good thing Sunako is a monster then.…. anyway, I need to talk with ozaki right?" Seshin sighed regrettably and handed him the phone. " _sei…. I can hear your heart racing, just what could be going through your mind?"_

"hey, Sora?" the phone rang in Sora's ear, and the electrical static bothered him as well. With his hearing especially, every crackle, every screech of the static sent shivers down his spine. He had to hold the phone a few inches away from his ear to make everything bearable.

"yeah? What have you got for me doc?" he said nonchalantly.

"only one person came in sick today…a good friend of mine and Seshin's, Mikiyasu Yasumori. I gave him a blood transfusion like you told me to, from what I observed it seemed to make a difference." Sora sighed.

"you're the doctor, not me. Anyway, what's the address" ozaki gave him an address and Sora hastily scrawled it down on a ripped piece of paper

"that's on the south side of sotoba…. Sora, I don't know what you're planning to do, but I guess I won't complain as long as no one else dies." He could hear the irritation in ozaki's voice.

"lack of nicotine getting to you?" Sora taunted playfully. "you and I both know I can't prevent every death…. but with the information I gave you we should be able to slow them to a crawl."

"I suppose it's the best we can do. But please, you have to tell me the bigger picture." Ozaki pleaded.

"sorry. You'll just have to trust me." Sora placed he phone back in the receiver. It made a satisfying click as the conversation was terminated.

"so…. who was it?" Seshin asked, noticeably worried.

"Mikiyasu… _I have a feeling I know who I'm going to see tonight."_

"so you're going then?"

"yeah…actually…could I ask a favor?" Seshin looked at him hesitantly.

"what do you need?" Seshin gulped.

"I need some of your blood… megumi tends to be a greedy feeder, so usually I'm only left with about half of what I take, and I need to be able to feed the shiki I'm trying to persuade, not to mention the lack of strength. If Tatsumi or Yoshie catch me in a vulnerable position, I'm dead." Seshin sighed and extended an arm for Sora. Sora, like megumi, began to drink it with vigor. He pulled away and licked the trail clean.

"I feel lightheaded." Seshin stammered. Megumi held his arm and helped him sit in Sora's swivel chair.

"sorry sei...when I visit ozaki tomorrow I'll make sure you get a transfusion. In the meantime, put some extra sugar in your tea or something." He gave the two a final goodbye and ran out of the temples back exit.

**A few hours later**

Sora crouched low in the bushes behind the Yasumori home, waiting for whatever unlucky vampire was going to happen by. It had been a few hours since he started waiting and he was beginning to think that he may have already missed them.

" _damn…I might have to come here earlier tomorrow."_ But just as the thought made its way full circle Sora noticed a short curvaceous woman with blue hair approach the window. He could hear her crying, moreover, he could smell the salt in her tears. " _I knew it…."_ As silently as he could, he leapt from the bushes, taking the woman down with a running tackle. The force of the impact was so strong that the two slid for several meters, far enough to plunge them back into the thick undergrowth. He clasped a hand over her mouth and started to whisper.

"I'll give you a minute to calm down, then I'm going to take my hand away from your mouth. When I do, don't scream, you'll wake the whole village and alert them all to our presence." He flashed his fangs to her to prove his own vulnerability. He waited a moment, keeping her pinned to the ground the whole time. Once she stopped squirming he released his grip.

"why would you tackle me like that? I was just trying to feed like anyone else. Are you one of Sunako's new jinrou? Was I doing something wrong?" she asked, visibly trying to hold back tears. Sora sighed.

"no. I have nothing to do with Sunako. I'm totally my own party." He said matter of factly.

"then what could you possibly want with me?" she asked. About ready to burst into tears.

"I'd gotten a tip that a vampire was feeding on someone named Mikiyasu." He looked at her. "I take it that was you?... _Nao, I think I might be able to help_ _ **you**_ _especially."_ The woman started sobbing into Sora's shirt. He felt awkward about it, he didn't know whether to give her a hug in comfort, or push her away. So he simply stood stiff as a board until she had finished. She sniffled.

"He's my husband… I wanted to take him and my son… maybe they would rise up and I won't have to be alone like this anymore. It's not like I want to hurt them! But I have to eat or I'll die! And every time I do I get one step closer to killing someone." Sora sighed and smiled warmly at her.

"don't worry. You don't have to actually kill anyone. While it's true you may need blood, you don't have to drain someone dry. That's just a lie Tatsumi tells the new vampires to keep them in line." She stared at him with a face contorted in utter shock and guilt. Sora truly pitied her. Megumi must have felt something similar when he told her the same.

"but I-I-I already…" Sora sighed as he watched Nao struggle with her guilt.

"killed someone? It wasn't your fault. You couldn't possibly have known. But now that you do, I expect you not to do it again, or at the very least to try and avoid it as much as possible. Switch targets when one gets too sickly, and if you can't get the invite, go after old people and criminals. Someone who won't be missed or who is soon to die anyway. And stake the corpse so no one else has to be put in the same position as you."

"but…I'm still alone! Shouldn't I try turning my family at least?" Sora looked at her with empathetic eyes. It was very rare Sora ever felt such strong sadness for someone besides megumi.

"not everyone rises…is it really worth the risk of killing them? You love them don't you? It might be sad now that you are gone…. but they can still lead happy lives. Why would you try and take it from them?" she started sobbing again, hysterically, so loudly that the villagers might wake up again.

"But I want them to be happy with me!" she lamented. "you're probably right…. I guess it's just my luck. I've always gotten the short end ever since I was a child." Sora grabbed her shoulders.

"I want the vampires to have peaceful lives just like the villagers… maybe if things go over well enough you might be able to see your family, even as you are. But you have to do your part. Stop killing. Stop following Sunako. Tell other vampires to do the same and play it off however you can. But for change to happen I need everyone to work with me. Can you at least try?" he asked as sweetly as possible.

"I…alright." She spoke quietly. "what's your name anyway?"

"Sora."

"mine is Nao."

" _I keep forgetting that no one else is privy to the knowledge I am…_ well Nao…feed on me tonight, then tomorrow is a new day…errr…. night….and you can try to become better. Everyone can."

**i have a question for all of you guys. whhat voice actor(english) do you picture sora being? anyway please review/comment and have a good day!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sora and seshin attend a funeral

**in case anyone has questions about the foreshadowing(as if you wont be able to see one of teh twists coming after this chapter) then please read a story called malpractice, im coauthoring it with salt the catgirl. its a very sciency story detailing exactly how i theorize thhe shiki function. how they operate, what they can turn into, the nature of thier illness, the phsycology of them. and all that. that story is about ozaki finding four of the shiki and experimenting on tehm like he did kyoko (megumi ritsuko tohru and masao) and the tree jinrou (natsuno yoshie and tatsumi) are in the story too**

"mhhh" Sora slowly woke up when the harsh light from outside penetrated the room as the door swung open.

"Sora…we have a funeral to go to." Seshin whispered solemnly. Sora immediately stood up, shocked by the news.

"but I thought Ozaki gave mikiyasu blood!" he shouted irritably. " _and I thought I had convinced Nao otherwise to boot."_ He rubbed his head, irritated at his failure.

"no…this one isn't mikiyasu...". Sora could hear the despair in his voice and grew worried himself.

"so…who?" Sora asked curiously.

"mhh, ughhh…" both of their heads turned towards the sound, it was a high pitched whine. Very cranky.

"OH SHIT!" Sora rushed past Seshin with blinding speed, slamming the door. "I forgot to cover megumi up!" he inspected her carefully, making sure she didn't sustain any injuries or severe burns. In the back of his mind he knew they would heal in a few minutes, but his protective instincts overrode his better judgement.

"whew…she just got a little sunburnt." He said with relief as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I'm glad she wasn't hurt…. but we need to get going" he took a closer look at Sora who seemed lost in thought. "what was on your mind?" he asked with a smile. Sora returned one.

"oh nothing, just thinking to myself." He said as he looked back at megumi. " _she was exposed to bright sunlight for at least a full minute. I thought shiki start burning and screaming almost immediately when it touches them... that's weird. Really weird."_ Sora pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he once again pulled the blankets over Megumi's head. He let out another quick sigh of relief and followed Seshin down the long flight of steps leading down the temple.

"Sora…jinrou aren't afraid of religious artifacts like shiki are, are they?" he asked nonchalantly. "this is a Shinto funeral after all, there's going to be plenty of chanting, charms and sacred artifacts, things like that." Sora sneered.

"useless trinkets have no effect on me, Sei. If it makes the person feel better then let them have it, but they certainly don't bother me, even in the state I'm currently in. shiki must be adapted to fear them because religious sects probably hunted them in centuries past, I mean after all, a church or temple is the last place you should go if you want to be accepted for who you are." Seshin looked a bit shocked.

"that's a pretty jaded view Sora, you're still so young, you should save your cynicism for when you get older." He said with a warm smile. Sora gave him a dirty look and Seshin immediately felt awkward. "oh…right. I forgot about that."

"anyway…jinrou must not fear them because we basically look like normal people, or can at least pass for them and fool anyone who might cause us harm…. plus, there are the extra benefits. Though even we can't go into buildings without an invitation." He said as he bit his thumb.

"are you magically prevented from doing so, is it like a barrier?" Seshin asked as he opened the car door for Sora.

"nothing really…. magic…about it. I suppose we can technically enter, its physically possible to move our bodies into the location even bereft of an invitation…but we lose our minds to fear…the closest thing I can describe it to is the feeling of helplessness when you know someone is about to hurt you, or maybe the fear on a battlefield that a soldier might experience, only a hundred times worse. And the feeling keeps growing until you lose your sanity, I personally can only tolerate it for about ten seconds. Though it varies, megumi for instance can only deal with it for about three, from what she's told me." Sora smiled tepidly.

"you seem to spend a lot of time thinking about it don't you." Seshin said enthusiastically.

"I've always been one to think about things deeply… people tend to get the impression that I'm a really smart person, but I'd say I'm not much smarter than average…. I just happen to spend more time thinking about the actions I take rather than events around me, or goals and dreams. Actually before I was turned into a jinrou I tended to get so focused on one thing at a time that I was completely oblivious to the world around me, life passed me by without my knowledge. I'd always get the feeling people were talking behind my back, or weren't telling me something, but I could never keep track, and usually the feeling was nothing more than a fleeting interest anyway so it didn't matter. Now that I have these crazy senses I know basically everything that goes on around me whether I want to or not. I can even hear the heartbeats of other people if I listen closely." Seshin looked at him in awe for a moment, losing focus on the road. Sora quickly nudged the steering wheel before the two swerved. "whoa sei, seems like you get pretty oblivious too." The two shared a laugh.

"so…were you happy before you ended up in sotoba?" sei asked curiously.

"I wasn't unhappy, not depressed or lonely, I don't have any social anxiety, nothing like that. No sob story." He laughed sarcastically. "my whole life was horrible! Every day was empty and reality was frustrating, sometimes I felt like I'd be better off dead! But now I came to the world of my dreams and life is really getting great!" he laughed harder "I bet that was the kind of answer you were expecting right?" Sora said with a twisted smile. He playfully stuck his tongue out at Seshin, who could help but laugh himself.

"honestly, that wasn't far off. Hahahaha" Seshin laughed as he pulled up the driveway.

" _I recognize this house…"_ Sora bit his thumb nervously. "Seshin…this funeral…" Seshin looked at him, and Sora instantly saw the distain in his eyes.

"Tohru, yes." Seshin lamented. Sora choked on his words as he clenched a fist.

"I'm such a useless friend. I can't protect anybody can I…." he spat in disgust.

"it's not your fault. You haven't been back long, so you couldn't have known about it" Seshin sighed.

"I wish I was a more capable guy. A hero of a story or something, then I could solve everyone's problems." Seshin could hear the regret in Sora's voice. It broke his heart.

"come inside. Dwelling on it won't help you." Sora slowly followed Seshin inside, taking a moment to look around. The air was thick, Sora could smell the salt from everyone's tears. The despair in the room was oppressive. It seemed to crush Sora where he stood, with an unrelenting immovable pressure.

"Sora." He heard a vaguely familiar voice, and turned to see a woman with short black hair.

"you…tohru's mother right?" Sora stared at her for a moment. She smiled politely.

"yes. It means a lot that you came." Sora gave a quick nod.

"I wasn't close to Tohru like Natsuno was, but I still considered him a good friend. I'm sorry for your loss" he said as he walked away. He slid through the thick crowd of people and wandered aimlessly around the home when suddenly he heard shouting.

"he's dead! Gone for good and all that you can do is sulk, not even going to cry?!" Sora walked into a familiar scene. There stood masao, gaunt and pale as ever, laying into Natsuno, who was sitting quietly with his knees pressed to his chest. He locked eyes with Natsuno for a brief moment. Neither needing words to understand what the other meant. "HOW COLD CAN YOU BE!? Don't you have any feelings?!" masao whined in that shrill naisily voice. Sora sighed and walked up to them.

"lay off him." Sora whispered in masao's ear bitterly. Masao turned his head to see Sora standing there, looking cross. He immediately felt a surge of fear, and his eyes went wide. Sora almost let a sadistic smile slip when he heard masao's heart beating rapidly. Natsuno looked away aloofly. Sora sighed and took a step closer to masao, who at that moment, was close to jumping out of his own skin. "this is a funeral, I know you looked up to Tohru, but how would he feel if he saw you acting like this. Get a hold of yourself. Don't take out your grief on Natsuno." Masao looked so angry that his face was as red as a tomato. "before you blow up on me just remember that I'd be perfectly happy to pin you to the wall again" Sora spat, trying as hard as he could to keep his eyes from going red. Masao turned pale again. He gave a quick nod in understanding and ran from the two. Sora looked at Natsuno and knelt down to meet him at eye level. Natsuno gave him a quick grunt of acknowledgement. "sorry about that, but masao really pisses me off." Natsuno smirked for a brief second.

"you sure handled that situation pretty calmly." He said aloofly. Sora scoffed playfully.

"slick is my middle name." the two looked over to the casket Tohru was placed in. there were ornaments and trinkets of all kinds surrounding it. "those are gifts from people close to the family right? There are so many…. Tohru really was beloved by everyone." Sora said sorrowfully.

"it's like he's an empty shell. Nothing but a ghost of his former self…Sora, where did he go? I can't see the friend I used to know anymore. Just that husk." Natsuno looked like he might shed a tear. Sora decided to sit next to him, knees up in the same position.

"I don't know. I wish I could say something succinct to ease your pain, but I'm at a loss for this one… I know how much you loved Tohru, so I couldn't begin to tackle the despair your feeling" Sora took a deep, regretful breath.

"I didn't…love…Tohru." Natsuno said, red in the face. Sora laughed.

"whatever you have to say to sleep at night." He joked. "look, I know we have sort of a weird relationship, but believe me when I say I truly am sorry. I know how bad it hurts to lose someone precious to you..." Natsuno looked away despondently.

"I checked on him every day before he died you know… he was getting sick like the rest of the villagers, but I thought he'd pull through." Sora made a curious noise. "I know you won't believe me…but I saw something weird a few times before he died." Sora gulped.

"weird how?" Sora pressed.

"well…. I saw a little girl with long purple hair, much darker than mine. She was as pale as the moon, and eyes as black as the night sky. I saw her twice. Once from inside the house, she was talking to Tohru by a vending machine. And then the next time, I was sleeping over, I woke up in the middle of the night to see her get off of tohru's bed and wipe away a trickle of blood." Sora's eyes grew wide in shock.

" _shit…Natsuno has seen the shiki…. should I try to persuade him they aren't real? No… knowing him, that would just make him look harder for them…and hate me along with that desire…. maybe I can lead him to the wrong conclusion if I play interested…._ I don't find that weird at all." Sora said confidently. Natsuno almost smiled at him. Almost.

"so…what do you think about it?" he asked excitedly. Sora turned and smiled secretly.

"something weird is going on in sotoba….it took my megumi from me, and now it's taken Tohru too." Natsuno looked at Sora with…. admiration. Sora was utterly floored.

"Sora…. I know you got sick like this too…. but you survived. Can you tell me about what it was like? Anything you might have seen?" Natsuno asked hurriedly.

"well…. not here, I'll need to get going soon but, call me over in a day or two… _ill need time to think about how to lie to you best…._ I'll need time to think about how to explain it to you best." Natsuno nodded in understanding "hey, have you seen doctor ozaki?" Sora asked nonchalantly.

"yeah, he's over in the other room, why?"

"just curious." Sora said as he walked away. "don't worry Natsuno, we'll figure this out" Sora walked over to doctor ozaki, who was busy talking to a few of the funeral guests. "yo, doc, can I get a word with you for a second?" he turned to see Sora giving him an irritated stare.

"if you'll excuse me everyone." "what do you want Sora." He asked crossly.

"come with me for a minute." Sora led the doctor out of the house and gave him a quick bite when no one else was in sight. Doctor ozaki shook off the dazed feeling from whatever chemical the shiki used to hypnotize people. "do you mind explaining why there is a funeral? I thought I told you to tell me the names of everyone who showed up at the clinic sick." Ozaki gave him a dirty look.

"well I can't exactly tell you who is sick if they don't show up, now can I" he said sarcastically. He reached for his lighter, but due to the previous command, was unable to strike it.

"ugh…I suppose you have a point. Anyway, for the next couple of days I'm going to be busy, so I won't be able to deal with the sick patients. You're gonna have to give them extra blood for the time being, even if they say they don't want treatment, you need to force it on them anyway, they aren't going to be in their right minds." The doctor looked even more irritably at Sora.

"it's not like I have an unlimited supply!" he spat. Sora laughed.

"you know, I only stopped you from smoking, if you need nicotine that badly, why not use chewing tobacco or gum…. look, you're a doctor right? Surely you have enormous pull in the surrounding communities, just make a request for anyone willing, to donate a pint of blood, say it's for research or something. You should be able to keep a steady supply like that, especially if a large part of the village chips in. you could even order it from mizobe."

"and just what do I tell them when I order such a large amount of blood?" he said, the irritation slowly fading in the wake of a good idea.

"you're a doctor. Think of something sciency sounding. It's just blood, not drugs, I doubt they would care much" Sora scoffed.

"fine…all this blood, it's like were dealing with an outbreak of vampires. That's what you are right? The fangs, and the hypnosis?" the doctor stared hard at Sora, who was starting to sweat. Sora tried to double down with a confident rebuttal.

"the sun is out and we are surrounded by religious paraphernalia, also" Sora pulled one of the scalpels out of the doctor's lab coat and showed the doctor his reflection in the steel. "what vampire has one of those?"

"fair enough. But you aren't human, I can tell that much." Sora stared angrily at him.

"I still have feelings. Emotions, can love others, so I don't see why it matters. Stop thinking about what I am and start thinking about how you can get a large supply of blood. Remember, I need it too." Sora casually took the scalpel in his two fingers and without looking, threw it at a flying cicada, pinning the insect to a tree.

"impressive throw" the doctor whistled.

"you really don't know the half of it." Sora said snidely as he walked away.

**hope you all enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review, kudo's blah blah blah, i always appreciate it**


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> natsuno and sora look in to the vampire problem

sorry for the wait, hope you all enjoy!

" _so Tohru too then…and from what Natsuno told me it was Sunako's doing. I wonder what she knows about me?"_ Sora whistled quietly as he paced back to the temple. The thoughts of the funeral still clung heavily in his mind. " _I know Tohru is certain to rise…maybe I should stake the corpse before that happens."_ An image of Natsuno flashed through his mind. " _no... I'll let him live. I can always use him as leverage if Natsuno gives me trouble."_ Sora stopped in his tracks. "use him as leverage…. this is about my friend here….im starting to become like Tatsumi" Sora gnawed at his lower lip and licked a bit of blood. He felt a familiar dizzy sensation wash over him. "gah…. Not as potent as megumi's blood, but it certainly helps me curb that sadistic side, I can't get drunk anymore, so this will have to do... _if megumi ever found out I was sneaking tastes of her blood I can't imagine how pissed she'd get. I'm really starting to get disgusted with myself."_ He sighed as he hiked the long row of steps. They were glowing brightly in the harsh sunlight that warmed soras back. He stepped inside the temple, greeted everyone with the same empty hello he'd been using since he turned, and headed for his room.

*yawn* Sora licked his lips as he nonchalantly opened the door. He stumbled inside, closing it just as clumsily. "I haven't been getting much sleep lately. Trying to help the vampires is exhausting…then the transformation…. its affected my sleep cycle. No one ever told me that jinrou sleep just as deeply as shiki. The only difference being, I get to pick when I go under." He walked over to megumi and uncovered her. She was laying bare chested on her back, a carefree expression on her face.

" _why does she always sleep naked?"_ Sora thought as his cheeks went flush red. Then the fatigue hit him again. He crawled next to her, pulled up the blanket and drifted into a blissful sleep.

***RIIIIIIINNNNGGG***

"Sora? Sora! Wake up!" Sora's eyes slowly creaked open. The room was blurry, but he could make out megumi standing over him dressed elegantly as usual.

"what. What is it?" he said as he rubbed his eyes.

"you have a phone call. Its yuuki." Sora could see a scowl growing on her face.

"I can see the resentment in your eyes." Sora said laughingly as he stretched his arms, careful not to exert too much strength on one of the limbs and dislocate it. That lesson he learned the hard way a night ago. Being a jinrou may have given him the strength of ten men but it didn't extend the durability of the human body.

"he called me a freak…. if you didn't want me killing I'd have half a mind to go and turn him myself. Maybe I'd make him do something embarrassing under hypnosis." Sora's eyes flickered red, excited by the thought. He bit his lip to curb the sadistic urge. "watch out for that. You shouldn't do it too much. Tatsumi told me it will rot your mind away."

"sorry. It helps with the killer instinct. Also, remind me never to piss you off." Sora rubbed his head

"good plan!" she smiled warmly as she handed him the phone.

"Sora?" a familiar voice chimed in through the static. Sora sighed with tired resignation.

"yeah? What's up Natsuno?" he bit a nail.

"nothing much…the woman who answered the phone…she sounded familiar." Sora tensed up.

"I'm sure you've been to the temple before, yeah? Just one of the volunteers…. she's gorgeous though" Sora smiled devilishly at megumi who coyly bit her thumb. "well, anyway, what do you want?"

"come by my place. You once told me something was wrong in the village. And after the funeral….and what I saw…I'm starting to believe you."

"that's fine I guess. It's alright if I come in? _better make sure I've got the invite secured"_ Sora smiled playfully.

"yeah, that's what I just asked of you." He snarked irritably.

"what are you bitching at me for? anyway…okay. I'll come over and we can talk about it." Sora hung the phone up before Natsuno could get another word in. megumi put her chin on his shoulder and leered curiously over at him.

"so, what are you planning?" she smirked mischievously.

"Natsuno is starting to suspect us, so I want to see if I can throw him off our trail…I just hope I don't have to do anything drastic" he playfully pushed megumi off his shoulder. "well, I'm going then." Sora gave megumi a quick hug as he headed away.

**Meanwhile**

Natsuno lay quietly in the corner of his room. The hardwood floor was cold on his back and he could feel his muscles stiffening from laying awkwardly. One hand was draped over his face as he was lost in thought.

" _Tohru…what could I have done? Was there something I missed. That girl…. I definitely saw her twice…"_ Natsuno's thoughts shifted more towards the little girl. He could picture those sinister black eyes, and that dry purple hair flowing in the black moonlight. He shook his head in disbelief, trying his hardest to shove the events deep into the recesses of his mind. No matter how he struggled, they kept bothering him. He was entirely too consumed in his thoughts to notice the door open, let alone to notice the wolfish smirk on the man who entered the room. He suddenly felt a wet finger enter his ear, a jolt of surprise entered his body as he was so rudely ripped from his mind. Turning with shock, he angrily threw a punch at the figure. The man noticed and caught it mid-flight. Natsuno struggled to move his hand. "what the hell was that for?!" he looked more closely at the teenager standing before him. "oh…. Sora…wait, still, who does that kind of thing?!"

"you just looked so peaceful. A serious offense, you needed to be punished." he laughed apologetically, Natsuno threw a punch with his free hand, Sora caught that one too. "we can do this all day if you want, but you won't land one" Sora laughed as he let Natsuno's hands go free.

"those are some killer reflexes." Natsuno remarked snidely, refusing to look Sora in the eye. Sora smiled warmly.

"you have no idea." He chuckled. "anyway, you wanted to talk about what's going on in sotoba right?" Natsuno sighed, got up and took a seat in the chair next to his desk. Sora decided to lay back on Natsuno's bed. "it's almost like we're in a therapy session in this position." Natsuno refused to acknowledge the joke.

"well…I told you about Tohru…what I saw that day." Natsuno shuddered.

"I'll stop you there." Sora snapped. "just go over it from the beginning… _If I act interested, and then say that there isn't a problem, then maybe he'll believe me…but this is Natsuno, he's certain to get pissed either way."_ Natsuno took a deep breath.

"like I said, it all started three days before he died. I was crashing at his place. He went out to buy a drink. It was taking him longer than usual, so I decided to peek outside. That's when I saw him with that girl."

"the pale one with black eyes?" Natsuno nodded.

"when Tohru came back it was like some of the life had been sucked out of him. He just seemed…off." Natsuno bit his thumb as he lost himself in thought.

"keep going, you said you saw her twice right?" Sora asked with faux curiosity.

"not going to weigh in on it yet?" Natsuno scoffed.

"I'd rather have the whole story first"

"fine, that makes sense." Natsuno thought back to the second night. "I decided to stay with him the next night too since I didn't know what was up. Sometime late that night, maybe around midnight, I had an episode of sleep paralysis, I used to be prone to it."

" _in the normal course of this world that happens when megumi bites Tohru…I always wondered why he didn't get up…. but I guess he couldn't."_ Sora glanced away. "scary."

"a bit. But I saw the girl again, she was getting off of a sleeping Tohru, and I could see a trickle of red dripping down her cheek. Tohru didn't really respond much the next morning, just shrugging me off, so I went home. What do you think…you survived whatever sickness Tohru had? It's the same plague going around sotoba. Can you tell me about anything you remember?" Natsuno stared intently at Sora, who could only return a meek gaze back.

"I don't remember anything, just being sicker each day _…along with the most savage beating of my life followed by sex with a vampire, and it was, of course, the reason for my transformation…._ yeah, it was all pretty hazy." Natsuno looked pissed.

"well that's no help"

"I know this might sound harsh…. but…what if this was all in your mind." Natsuno gave Sora a frigid glare.

"why even come here if you doubt me"

"whoa whoa whoa, I'm just saying, sleep paralysis can cause you to see things." Sora braced himself to intercept a punch. But Natsuno simply glanced away regrettably.

"I wish it were that simple...but I saw drops of blood on tohru's sheets that morning." Sora looked shocked as he rolled around Natsuno's bedside.

"he could have just scratched himself, anyway does it really matter? I heard the doctor found a way to fight this disease. Giving people blood… _I told ozaki not to investigate it, but I wonder how long it will take him to do the math. First I feed on blood in front of him, then I hypnotize him, maybe I should just erase his memory whole cloth…"_

"yeah, there haven't been any deaths for a few days. But I talked with him at the funeral after you left, he said that lots of them had dreams of close relatives and friends who died." Sora stared blankly at Natsuno.

"sick people having dreams of seeing their loved ones? Doesn't sound far-fetched to me" Sora moved over a lump in the bed. He reached under the covers and pulled out a tattered movie case. "draculady…" he read the title deliberately. Natsuno's face went flush red and Sora started to stare daggers at him.

"I've just been doing some research on my theory." He said nonchalantly.

"vampires…. you're fucking kidding me." Sora lied. Natsuno looked irate himself, and swiped the case right from Sora's hands.

"I know it sounds totally insane. But hear me out." Sora sighed.

"fine, I'm already here right?" Sora walked over to Natsuno's chair, and gave him a pat on the back. Natsuno recoiled a bit at Sora's touch.

"anyway, think about it. Mysterious deaths, blood packs saving lives, and of course me seeing a pale girl with black eyes with blood dripping from her mouth. Not to mention everyone who was sick having dreams about relatives who have died from this same disease." Sora gave Natsuno a dreadful glare.

"then explain me. I survived this disease, and vampires have always seemed pretty "no mercy" to me" Sora gave Natsuno a smug smile.

"you won't like it…." Natsuno took a deep breath.

"it's unbelievable as it is, what more could you possibly say… _Natsuno, you are next on my hitlist…."_

"what if it was Shimizu? She died of this illness…. maybe she turned into one. She could have been the one feeding on you but didn't have the heart to kill you." Sora was nearly floored with surprise.

" _wow…. I can't believe he figured it out…I guess hypnotizing him is always an option…_ so what do you propose we do about it." Sora clenched a fist.

"we could try to get proof." Natsuno whispered quietly.

"what do you suppose we do, dig up a grave?" Sora spat sarcastically. Natsuno looked at him with a surprised look.

"I was going to say we could use me as bait and capture one, but that seems a lot safer. Let's do that!" Natsuno said with determination.

"who's grave…. _as if I didn't already know…"_ Natsuno looked away tepidly.

"shimizu? At the very least it would prove my theory." Sora slammed a fist into a wall.

"you want me to uproot the grave of my girlfriend just so you can test a theory?" Sora spat angrily.

'you don't have to come, I can do it on my own and I'll just tell you what I found. We can work from there." Sora peeled his hand away from the dent on the wall. He took a moment to scrape the paint away from his hand.

" _he'll find that empty grave and then who knows what I'll have to do to him…. wait a minute…I've got an idea…_ no, I'll go with you. And when we open the casket and find her desiccated fucking corpse I'm going to cave your head in with the shovel and toss you in with her" Sora spat with faux rage.

**Two nights later**

The two walked swiftly through the forest to the shimizu family graves. The moon was full that night and its bright blue light scattered through the trees. The shadows were haunting, fitting for such a grim task.

"hold up" Sora said to Natsuno. "listen" the two held still for a moment. A short distance away they heard a faint growl. Something feral. Natsuno looked a bit unnerved. "a wild dog…" Sora said. The two kept walking cautiously, careful to keep their shovels off the ground and away from sight. Only a few moments later did they hear the sound of feet hitting the ground, running swiftly. "get down!" Sora shouted as the dog attempted to jump on Natsuno's back. It barked and clawed viciously as Sora picked it up by the scruff and threw it as hard as he could into the tree. It struggled to move and looked back towards the tree line while Sora helped Natsuno get up. "not hurt are you.?"

"no…thanks for the help, I couldn't even hear it."

"yeah…. I recognize this dog, its attacked me before." Sora picked up his shovel and walked towards the pitiful creature as it tried to limp away.

"hey, Sora, what are you doing?" Natsuno looked on in shock as Sora drove the tip of the shovel as hard as he could into the back of the dog's neck, the sickly smell of diseased blood wafted up from the remains. With one hand Sora tossed the mange riddled corpse back into the tree line. "what the hell?" Natsuno gasped.

"it was just going to keep attacking people. I thought it learned its lesson when I clocked it with the blunt end of an axe a few weeks ago"

"fair enough I guess. But you didn't have to kill the thing." Natsuno stammered.

"whatever. Let's just get this over with." Sora hissed. The two walked in silence for the last few minutes of the trip. Natsuno looked back at Sora, who was trailing lazily behind, once or twice. And both times Sora gave him the same icy stare. "well, this is it. Start digging." He barked. The two had arrived at the lonely grave sitting at the edge of the forest. The grave marker gently reflected moonlight in the darkness, if a normal person were to squint they would just barely be able to make out the characters that spelled megumi's name. Natsuno plunged his shovel into the ground first and Sora could smell the fresh Petrichor rising from the moist earth. The two labored for a few hours until at last the wooden box was unearthed. Megumi's name was printed on the coffin as well as the grave marker. Sora stood on top of the coffin and tapped it twice with his shovel.

"this won't be a pretty sight…. brace yourself." Natsuno grunted through gritted teeth. Sora wiped the sweat from his brow and lifted the lid. Natsuno looked almost disappointed when he saw megumi lying inside, hands wrapped together in a peaceful position and a temple robe draped across her body in place of her normal flamboyant attire. Natsuno studied the body carefully. "this…. this can't be right." He whispered. "I was so sure this would be an empty coffin"

"remember our little promise, now stand in front of the hole so I can clock you with my shovel." Natsuno took one last look at the corpse.

"wait…. shouldn't the body be decomposed?" Sora looked away in utter terror. "Sora get out of here! This could be dangerous. I'll take care of her while she's asleep!" Natsuno raised the tip of his shovel and megumi's eyes opened as wide as they could.

"NO!" she squealed. Natsuno was utterly floored for a moment, before he felt Sora rush him. His body grew cold as the young jinrou drained as much blood as he could. Sora backed away and wiped the blood from his lips.

"alright Natsuno, I want you to forget everything you've seen tonight", he said as he stared Natsuno in the eye. "damn it megumi, I told you to keep quiet. Now I've got to feed on him too. gah!" Sora felt a staggering pain in his cheek as he tumbled over. He felt the area he'd been hit in. he could barely hold back nausea as the broken teeth healed and the split in his cheek stitch back together, he could barely see the outline of a bloody shovel through his blurry vision.

"you both?! Vampires?!" Natsuno screeched as he tried to slam the shovel into Sora's head. But this time Sora was quick enough to retaliate. He tripped Natsuno as he rolled out of the way. Slowly he walked over to a shivering Natsuno, grabbed him by the scruff and pinned him to a tree. "I gave you an order!" Sora shrieked. Natsuno spat in his face. Enraged, Sora hit Natsuno as hard as he could in his solar plexus. Natsuno gasped for air and coughed up blood.

"as if I'd ever listen to anything you say." he choked. "when the village finds out, we'll purge every one of you." Sora bore his teeth in a grizzly snarl.

"I'm not sure why my hypnosis isn't working. But that's pretty unfortunate. I hope you understand, hurting you was a last resort…megumi, get over here and feed on him too."

"sure" she glared at Natsuno with the same burning hatred that she saw in his own eyes countless times. quickly she plunged her fangs into his neck, biting as hard as she could, feeding greedily. She stared into his eyes as they grew cloudy. "like Sora said. Forget everything you've seen tonight. Vampires aren't real, and no one has any idea about the mysterious deaths in sotoba" Natsuno nodded in agreement. What do we do with him now?" she asked innocently.

'there's an open grave, I'm tempted to throw him in it…after all, I guess we can only hypnotize one person, and I have to keep my thumb on ozaki. And it's too dangerous for you to keep track of him, what with Sunako's lackeys hunting us…I suppose people would wonder where he went if I did that though… I guess it would come as no surprise if he died from the same illness everyone else is getting. I'll see him home and deliver the killing bite in a couple of days... go tell Seshin my plan failed and I have to take Natsuno out anyway"

please fave follow review ect thanks!


	24. Chapter 24

**sorry everything has been uploaded on a bit of delay lately, but i hope you like the new chapter. its a bit heavy this time.**

"so what do you plan to do with yuuki?" megumi asked curiously as she stretched out and yawned.

"like I said, I'll drop by tonight and…" Sora looked away regretfully.

"yeah…" megumi put a hand on his shoulder.

"I've certainly lost control before…. never actually killed anything besides a rabid dog though. I might have ripped Tatsumi to pieces in a sadistic rage…but I let him go…and he deserved to die, whereas Natsuno, who even in the face of danger tried to protect me, is going to die by my hand. The irony is palpable." Sora laughed reluctantly. Megumi gently caressed his face. " _her hands are warm…. that's odd."_

"I'm really sorry it turned out like this." She sighed.

"megumi…. this might be a hard question but…what's it like to kill someone?" Sora could barely muster up more than a whisper. His hands started to tremble as he thought of it, she noticed and placed her own hands over his to calm them.

"they forced me to kill two people before they let me out. One was a really old woman, she was the second and I did it without a second thought, once I learned they might rise I felt a bit of a disconnect. …but the first…" Sora could see tears pooling in her eyes. "it was a little boy. He couldn't have been more than three or four." She blinked as a tear slid down her cheek. "I didn't want to. And once it was done I cried and cried. It was a cold, dark experience…and I'll never forget it…then of course there was you, I didn't actually kill you, but I thought I did. For you I had mixed feelings. I knew you were in a lot of pain and I hoped you would rise, so I was hopeful in a way. But on the other hand I felt just as bad as I did with the kid." Sora smiled.

"I'm almost flattered in a way. For some reason I feel good that you weren't able to shrug it off." Sora thought back to Natsuno. "maybe it's supposed to feel like that. The horrible feeling seems to be a pretty good deterrent, making killing a last resort sort of move." Megumi held him closely. She whispered something as she leaned into his chest.

"the scary thing is…if I had never met you I would have ended up like the me from that other world, able to kill people coldly like that. I understand why she…I… did it. But I prefer my humanity…. what's left of it at least." She laughed in the same forlorn way Sora did. They held each other closely for a moment. Sora pulled away when the phone started to ring. He inched away as megumi was still lost in the bitter memory. The two exchanged a few brief words as Sora's eyes flickered.

"Sora. This time its three people. Two of them can live another few days with the treatment you told me about. But the third" Sora felt a sinking feeling. "it's Natsuno, and he's pretty critical. I shipped him back home, but he still can't move much even after the blood transfusion. I don't know what you've been doing with them, but be extra careful in Natsuno's case" Sora shuddered as doctor Ozaki hung up as suddenly as he called. Sora looked around the room and saw megumi pursing her lips. There was an open tube of scarlet lipstick lying next to her as she checked herself in the mirror. Sora shook off his hesitation and took a moment to admire the color.

"where did you get that?" he asked with a devilish smile. She laughed coyly.

"Seshin bought it for me, along with a few other things" she stuck her tongue out playfully. Sora shot her a perplexed look.

"I don't know how I feel about you manipulating people like that." She raised her eyebrows.

"do you really think you have any room to talk? After all, you've got the doctor doing your bidding, and until a couple days ago, Natsuno was putty in your hands too," she giggled. He grunted irritably.

"and who's fault is it that he found out?" he said, pointing a finger accusatorily in Megumi''s direction.

"uhh…." Her face went flush red. "hey don't change the subject!" she squealed. Sora sat back and sighed.

"you've got a fair point" he admitted begrudgingly. "anyway, Natsuno got some blood from the good doctor…I guess his parents decided to give a crap about his health this time. I might have to kill him in the conventional way." His hands started to tremble again.

"I could go with you again."

"with the new dose of blood the doctor gave him, the hypnosis you put on him has worn off by now, doc said he can't move much, so it shouldn't be hard for me to get into his place. But you don't have the invite, and you can't force him to give you access if you can't bite him." She nodded n acceptance.

"then just…be careful. It's one thing to kill as a vampire, but what you're talking about is cold blooded murder"

"thanks for that…" Sora spat sarcastically. He gave her a quick hug as he walked out of the door.

**Meanwhile**

Two sets of red eyes peered at the large house from behind the tree line. Their acute night vision made the place glow gently in the light of the moon.

"so…you never authorized anyone to feed on Natsuno?" a voice echoed meekly through the forest.

"you asked me for him specifically. Ever since Tatsumi was killed by that other jinrou I've had to organize the feedings. Tatsumi never really let people pick. So I hope you understand how lucky you are, we simply haven't been able to kill enough people lately, apparently the doctor found a way to prolong their lives. Why would you want to kill your best friend though?" a woman's voice replied.

"it would be better if I was the one…. I couldn't stand the thought of someone else hurting him." He choked on his words, obviously fighting back tears.

"well once we get rid of the rouge shiki you can deal with him. I feel bad for you Tohru, even we shiki have feelings, and this kill certainly is a hard one." The woman sighed sympathetically.

"let's just get this over with, Yoshie…" the two sat and watched the house for several hours until finally they saw movement from the inside. Tohru walked up closer to the window, listening in on what was being said.

"what a mess this turned out to be…" he heard a familiar voice muffled through the walls.

"Sora…come to finish me off?" Tohru gasped as he heard Natsuno's muffled sarcasm.

" _Sora? He's the rouge shiki? The one who's been causing so much trouble?"_ Tohru could feel himself shivering as Yoshie crept up close to the window herself. She pressed her own ear to the wall, and she could hear much more clearly.

Sora approached the bed, he scrunched his nose when he smelled the acrid medicine that Natsuno had sitting on the counter.

"that was the plan…I'm surprised your parents just let me in here like this. You didn't tell them I caused your pain?" Sora walked closer baring his fangs. Natsuno turned away in disgust.

"that would have been an unbelievable story." He spat angrily. "get it over with. Just don't hurt any other innocent people." Sora placed his hands on the bed. He hissed as his fangs extended. But suddenly he stopped and buried his head in the blanket.

"please Natsuno. Please give me a reason." He pleaded. Natsuno turned back over.

"a reason. A reason for what?" Natsuno spat.

"please. I'm begging you, give me a reason to spare your life." Tears started to trickle down his face.

"you seemed so confident about killing me the other day. You even suggested burying me alive… _why is he crying like that…_ and now you're getting cold feet?" Natsuno looked at him with defiant eyes.

"when someone rises something changes in them. They get a sort of sadistic instinct. It gnaws at our mind all the time and in extreme moments or when we get hungry we end up losing control and doing the most horrible…sometimes brutal and cruel, things. When you threatened megumi I lost control. It happens only very rarely for me. In fact, the last time it happened I sort of tortured another jinrou like me. He'd been hurting her pretty badly and I just…. lost it…. I ended up letting him go… the funny thing is, you haven't done anything to me I didn't deserve and yet I've got to kill you"

"let him go?" Yoshie whispered in confusion" Sora pricked his ears in that direction, but shrugged off the feeling.

"you all would be better off dead. No one can fight their nature." Natsuno grumbled.

"you're wrong. And that's why I have to get rid of you. If I let you go, you'll never stop trying to kill us."

"you've got that right. You need to accept your early deaths. You'll only cause pain as long as you exist." Natsuno closed his eyes in an accepting manner.

"Natsuno. I'm going to kill you. Not because I'm hungry. Not because I want to, believe me it's a last resort. I'm going to kill you so I can protect the people I care about….and once I do, I truly won't be human anymore." He said through gritted teeth and falling tears. He advanced on the teen. Both of their hearts were beating rapidly and he raised his fangs.

"WAIT!" a voice called from beyond the window.

"that voice." Natsuno strained.

"yeah…come on in Tohru" Sora retorted dryly. Yoshie shushed him, and whispered that she would be staying put. Tohru reluctantly walked into the window ledge and hopped in the room.

"so it was you perched outside of the window the whole time" Sora sighed. Natsuno looked at him with regret

"Tohru. You too? You're one of these creatures." Tohru started to tear up as well.

"I wanted to be the one who finishes you. The vampires are planning to take over the whole village, and at some point you too would become a target. I didn't trust anyone else. I knew that if I did it at least I'd be gentle." He started to sob. Sora laid a hand on his shoulder.

"look, neither of us want to do this. Natsuno…are you sure you can't just take Tohru and get out of here. Leave sotoba and never look back." Sora begged.

"you both have that killer instinct right? It would just be a matter of time before he turned on me. Like I said, no matter how hard you try, your nature will always get the better of you in the end."

"I guess we don't really have a choice" Tohru lamented.

"Sora. Can I have a few minutes alone with Natsuno first?" Tohru pleaded with him.

"yeah. I won't bother you" Sora walked out of the room as the Tohru walked closer to Natsuno.

"I'm sorry it had to turn out like this Tohru. This is the last thing I ever wanted for you." Tohru put a hand on Natsuno's.

"are you sure we can't run away?" Tohru stared into his eyes.

"I might have even suggested the same thing…but seeing what I have I know it's an impossibility. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you when I was alive. And I'm sorry I have to become your enemy in the end. Nothing hurts me more than seeing you forced to do something that you can't bear. You were one of my only friends in this hellhole of a village. I guess I won't get to leave after all" Tears dripped down tohru's face as he bore his fangs, Sora walked back in. the two exchanged knowing glances and Sora opened his mouth revealing his own set.

"I'm sorry" all three said at once as the two plunged their fangs into Natsuno's soft flesh. Once it was done the two backed away as they wiped blood from their mouths.

"well that's that." Sora said solemnly. "hey, you behind the window. get in here, I want to talk with you."

Yoshie peeped her head above the glass.

"how did you know I was…. wait, you're a jinrou like me. No wonder you were able to kill Tatsumi. You've been causing lots of trouble. Can you tell me why you insist on wrecking our plans for a sanctuary?" Sora walked up towards her, daggers in his eyes.

"I don't know what that little witch told you, but I certainly didn't kill him. I beat him within an inch of his life, but I stopped myself before I actually killed him. I thought he hobbled back to your mansion or something." He said flatly.

"Sunako said he'd been killed that day." She looked down curiously again.

"the evil little girl probably tossed him aside. spoiled children often get rid of their broken toys" Yoshie pinned Sora to the wall, the red in her eyes glowed brightly in the dim amber light of Natsuno's room.

"how dare you talk about lady Sunako that way" she hissed. Sora remained calm. He quickly placed one hand over her mouth, and crushed the wrist of the one that was pinning him to the wall. She attempted to yell in pain, but Sora's grip was too strong and she barely let out a whimper. He let the wrist go and watched as the bones snapped back into place.

"do you really think she has your best interest at heart? Especially since she lied to you about your most respected comrade? She forces you all to kill against your will, and your own family members no less. All the while acting like she's the victim the whole time. Tell me. Do you really think that she is the good guy here?" he uncovered her mouth. She shot him a dirty look.

"even still. She's the only leadership we have." She looked away regrettably.

"I don't care what happens to sotoba anymore. Now that I know Tatsumi isn't pulling any stings I can take megumi and leave in peace in a few days. I trust you'll put an end to this madness on your own." He walked off.

"what about Natsuno, could he rise?" Yoshie asked.

"not my problem. You and your lot caused this mess, you can fix it yourselves."

**this is not the last chapter lol, just in case anyone got scared by that last line, there is still more to come, but i hope you all will leave a review, anyway thanks for reading**


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